


Anything to survive

by Lehenne



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben's POV, Gen, Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Protective Ben Hargreeves, Protective The horror, Vietnam War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-03-01 00:16:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 76
Words: 83,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18789172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lehenne/pseuds/Lehenne
Summary: Ben knows Klaus is ready to do anything to survive. Back in their teenage years to avoid the apocalypse, and forced to flee from their childhood home, the other siblings start to slowly realise the extent of Klaus' fucked up survival instincts. But Ben won't let it come to that.





	1. Ben won't have it

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been floating in my mind since I read another fanfic (I can't find it anymore, sorry). So now I'm sharing it with you.
> 
> This setup chapter escaped me a little, and it might feel a bit rushed (well it kind of is honestly) But next chapter I'll get into the story itself.

Ben had rarely enjoyed his time tethered to Klaus. For the better part of fifteen years, he could count on the fingers of one hand the time he had enjoyed it. The thing with Klaus, is that he is ready to do anything. Ask his help fishing and he'll fist fight a shark to please you. Ben had learned the hard way to stop asking Klaus to find a bed for the night. He'd had to watch his brother do despicable things for a bit of drug money. But he understood, he trully did. And if anyone had to witness Klaus sober, they'd understand too.

Their other siblings had _no idea_.

 

They escaped the apocalypse as their thirteen years old selves. They'd reappeared in the back courtyard, in the dead of night. The after effects of time travel subsided. Then Ben found himself buried under siblings, crying and sniffing and laughing. When finally they backed away one by one, he sat on the grass, dumbfounded. He didn't care for them, not yet. He looked for Klaus, who had a passed out Five on his lap. Their eyes met, a smile bloomed on their faces. Despite the weirdness of _being alive,_ despite having muscles and wobbling legs, despite _Them_ wriggling under his skin again, Ben strode toward his dear brother. They hugged like they'd meant to do for the last fifteen years.

“Benny, it's good to see you,” Klaus' voice was but a whisper.

“I'll never let you on your own again.” They stayed like that for a long while, too occupied to cry on each other's blouses to care for anything else. The only reason they let go was because Five was waking up, and the others were growing uneasy.

“Did I do it ?” Five asked, looking around with growing pride.

“Yeah you did,” Luther answered. He was holding Vanya in in his very human hands.

“When exactly are we,” Allison asked while looking around for clues. They sat down in a circle to try and make sense of everything, their voices low to avoid waking anyone up in the mansion. Five explained the day he'd disappeared was important, so that's where they ended up. Under Sir Reginald's thumb. Back to their personal training. They had to remember every details of the worst years of their lives together. The commission would come for them if they messed up the timeline, Five explained. Ben had huddled himself as close to Klaus as he could, now that he could.

“We have to do everything right. If they catch on what we're trying to do, they won't leave us alone.” For Ben alone to hear, Klaus let out the faintest of whimpers.

“Personal training,” He shrilled, and proceeded to crumble apart.

“No.” He said, and his tone suffered no reply. He'd said it with such determination it made even Diego and Luther flinch. Five, on the other hand, turned to him with thinly veiled annoyance.

“Oh ? Please do give us your insight.”

“We're not living throught all that again. I won't permit it.” They didn't know. “We won't survive another round. _Klaus_ won't survive another round.”

 

 

But well, life has a way. And Sir Reginald appeared behind them with a contemptuous scoff. Time stopped for an eternity. In their small circle, everyone tensed up.

“Back from your little excursion I see, Number Five ? There will be no breakfast tomorrow. Now back to bed.” Klaus shot straight up without a word. He looked at the ground as he went past their father towards the mansion. Ben followed him as if the plague was on their trail. “Number Four !” They had almost reached the door. He had almost escaped. That's when Ben remembered. After each nightmare, after each flash back, Ben had asked, insisted they talk about it. It was only a few years ago that Klaus had finally opened up. This was the night their father first locked him up. Ben would have none of it.

“No.” His voice sounded weird. Like he had two of them ; And the second wasn't a teenage boy's voice. It had sounded ancient and bone-chilling. Sir Reginald seemed to turn around in slow motion.

“Excuse me ?” He asked. But he sounded almost shaken. And that... A shiver went down Ben's spine as he felt _Them_ under his skin, restless but completely at his mercy. _They_ were one with him now.

“ _We_ are not your puppets,” _they_ said. “You will not torture _us_ anymore.” Could the others hear ? Were they scared of _them_ ? Sir Reginald was.

“Enough of this nonsense !” He sounded flushed, scared. _Horrified_. “You are grounded in your quarters until you remember your manners !” A smile stretched _their_ features. _They_ were sure it looked terrifying, because _they_ could hear _their_ siblings gasp.

“ _We_ won't let you control _us_ anymore. You're insignificant.” _They_ took a step forward. And to _their_ complete and absolute delight, father took a step back. Something hot and tingling shook _their_ entire body. _They_ could end him right there. Ensure the safety of _their_ siblings. Klaus' safety. Klaus.

 

Klaus.

 

“Ben.” _They_ weren't too sure who said _their_ name. Something roared loud in _their_ ears.

“Should _we_ kill him ?” _They_ asked. _They_ weren't alone after all, _their_ siblings deserved a choice.

“What ?” _They_ heard.

 “What ?” _They_ heard again.

“I heard a rumor you fainted right now.” And like that, Sir Reginald plopped down to the ground, grotesque puppet of a monster in human's clothings.

“Ben ?” Klaus. _They_ turned to Klaus. So fragile, so small. “What's up with your eyes ?” He asked. There was no fear, just curiosity. No fear ; Good.

“What's up with _our_ eyes ?” _They_ asked. The roaring in _their_ ears subsided. _They_ noticed the edges of _their_ vision widen. Klaus giggled. Rare, blessed, innocent sound.

“They look like a goat's. No wait, like an octopus',” he snickered, a hand covering his mouth. The adrenaline gone, _they_ subsided a bit. _They_ were still there, in the back of their skull, conscious. They were less than two, but more than one still... It was weird. “Oh, they're back to normal now.” Klaus seemed almost disappointed.

“Ben, what was that ?” Five asked. The others had joined them. Diego had stopped above Father's unconscious form, pushing him a little with his foot. Ben took a big gulp of air and let it all out. He shuddered as his whole body untensed at once.

“It was _them.”_ He gestured at his stomach, and they all understood. “But it's _us_ now. I think.” He frowned, not too sure about his explanation.

“Alright... And what was that about killing him ?” Five uselessly gestured at their father.

“Well,” he started, licking his lips. “Can you honestly tell me none of you considered it before ?”

“Excuse me ?” Luther said. Ben didn't want to meet anyone's gaze. He looked at Vanya, still unconscious in Luther's arms. Then his attention trailed toward the empty space where his statue would stand in a few years. And when noone else objected, Luther seemed more frantic. "What, all... You all...”

“Yeah, Luther, not everyone's got Stockholm syndrome,” Diego answered with a sigh.

“As much as I'd enjoy his murder, we can't kill him.” Five seemed pensive. “He's too important to the timeline.”

“We can't stay.” Ben said. He noticed Luther and Allison flinch. Five sighed.

“No, I guess we can't.” Everyone was silent for a while. “But you all have to understand that we'll never be at peace, wherever we manage to go. And not just because of the commission. Father will probably look for us.”

“I can make him forget,” Allison said, her voice sharp, “About us.” Everyone turned to her. “One less thing to worry about.”

“What, what, what... What about mom ?”

“She'll be fine, Diego...”

“No, he'll tur- tur- turn her off ! If he has no use for her, she'll be turned off !”

“No he won't,” Luther said, calm and composed. “He could have turned her off when you all left the house. But she's a good maid.”

 

So that's how it was. Allison woke Father up, made him forget their existance. Ben and Klaus went in the house to take whatever they could carry to pawn off. Luther and Diego prepared bags with clothes and food. Five went to his Father's study to take the journals about them. And Vanya woke up just in time to witness their departure.

“What's happening ?”

 

 


	2. First night back's a shit show

 

Seven little kids roaming the streets at night... Seven little kids avoiding the no-good streets, following to the two brothers that had already been there, done that. Seven little kids snickering in a line along the shadows of the city. 

To distract himself from everything wrong about their whole situation, Ben made a mental tally of their possessions. Four duffel bags full of clothes, one packed with the most valuable things they had stolen from the old man. The last bag contained every dry food they'd found in the kitchen. Except for Vanya, each carried a bag.

“Where do we go now ?” Asked Number One, unsure and a bit scared ; the guy had never even left their father's house before. Ben walked right behind Klaus. Easier to keep an eye on him from there.

“The pawn shop, obviously.” Klaus was leading the way. He was in his element, of course. He didn't judge necessary to give more details. In the back, Diego was catching Vanya up.

“What about Pogo,” she asked after he'd caught her up.

“Allison rumored him too.” It was silent for a while. They turned the corner before the pawn shop's street.

“So why did we leave again ?” But Vanya never got an answer. They all crashed into each other when Klaus had stopped dead in his tracks. He backed away, frantic, pushing Ben without looking at him. When they were back behind the corner, Klaus slided along the wall, eyes lost in front of him. So Ben took a peek around the brick wall.

“Fuck.” Of course it was those fuckers. It couldn't have been anyone else, couldn't it ?

“What is it ?” Five peeked around too ; to him, it was just a group of young men.

“Doug and the gang,” Klaus breathed out. Everyone took a peek in turn, all unaware of the problem at hand. Five snickered, Luther frowned, the others might have done stuff too, but Ben didn't look.

“Why is that familiar ?” Diego said, pensive.

“You tried to be a cop, of course they'd be familiar. They're dealers, robbers, probably murderers, definitely sex offenders.” Ben cleared the mistery in a matter of fact tone. But his attention was on Klaus. Shivering, panicking Klaus. He kneeled next to him, took his hand. “We'll come back later. Come on, let's find somewhere to crash for the night.” His voice was soft, but in his head, _their_ thoughts started to merge again. _They_ could get rid of the bastards, problem solved.

“Yeah, okay...” How did Klaus survive alone again ? He was so soft, so lost, surely he'd... Well yeah. Of course he'd been taken advantage of. That's what made him this way. Ben cleared his head as he helped his brother up. Their siblings looked at them, curious, expectant. “That way.” And Klaus was on the move again. He went in the opposite direction, toward the outskirts of the city.

 

Five slowed down first. Each of his breaths were loud, ragged. His time jump had taken everything out of him. Soon, he reluctantly climbed Luther's back. Vanya followed soon after ; She wasn't trained like the others, her endurance that of a normal child. Before too long, and only because she slowed them down so much she had no choice but to accept, she ended on Diego's back.

They reached the abandonned area of the city's poor parts just past two a.m. Ben had a pretty good idea where Klaus was headed now.

“Rats Palace or Owl's Hall ?”

“Why, benny-bee, Rats Palace of course.” The little fence on the side of the crumbling appartment numbered 102 didn't look like much. But it was the entry way to free real estate.

“I'm sorry what did you just say ?” Allison huffed right behing Ben.

“Don't worry, there aren't that many rats. But it's safe, is what it is.” Well, safe was a big word. But they'd almost never had any problems there.

They entered the abandonned court, overgrown weed giving the place an eery kind of vibe. He stretched a hand toward his siblings.

“Stay there, not a sound,” he whispered. And both Klaus and him went opposite to each other toward the windows. They looked in each of them, with trained discretion and efficacy. No one in the first three windows ; It was a good sign. Fourth, fifth, still nothing. He met Klaus midway, and they both gave a thumb up. All clear. They fetched the others, and soon found themsleves roaming the dirty corridors of Rats Palace. Klaus gave a tour.

“To your right, you'll see an empty room. If you squint a little, you won't notice the mold.” He whispered, used to being discreet in those kinds of places. “And now, to your right, I present to you, with great pride, an empty room !” Ben smiled a little, because he was too exhausted to do much else. “But wait ! There's a twist !” They reached the fifth room, the one they'd used most of the time, and with a good reason. “In this room, you'll find a matress ! And it's still almost white, look at that.” Klaus wandered in without a care ; Needles on the ground, cans on the corner, suspicious stains everywhere. “Welcome to this humble abode.” He ended his tour with open and inviting arms, plopping right down on the matress.

Ben crashed next to him, making the matress bounce a little. Being alive was overrated, he decided, his legs burning like red coal and his throat full of gravel. Frozen under the door frame, Allison took a deep, controlled breath.

“Explain again. Give me one good reason why you didn't let me rumor us into a motel.” Five slid down Luther's back. The Boy, sleepy and unsteady on his feet, scratched his eyes before answering.

“The less we use our powers, the harder it'll be for the commission to find us.” He yawned, crashed down Klaus' other side, ready to sleep. “Besides, motels are where assassins lay.” And that was the last of Five for the night.

Diego kicked a few needles on his path, sat Vanya on the other end of the matress, and chose the corner under the far left window to put his duffel bag down.

“Okay !” Klaus said, “Five and the girls take the matress, I'll take the floor. You guys take the bags, sounds good ?” At this point, no one had anything left in them to argue. Luther, Diego and Ben made a makeshift, soft-ish area with the bags. They pushed each other until they settled enough and not one square foot of bag remained unused.

Klaus laid down next to Ben, right onto the floor, and went to sleep before they could say anything else. If it was anyone else, It could seem heartless to leave him there, on the cold, dirty hardwood floor. But Klaus had gotten so used to it that by now, he slept better there than on any bed. Ben wriggled an extra jacket out of under him and put it on his brother, before falling asleep for the first time in fifteen years.

 

“Leave me alone.” Ben woke up to the only important voice in his life. Outside, the sun was peeking above the horizon, and he was the only one awake. “Please don't,” Klaus pleaded in his sleep, shivering on the floor next to him. “Get off !” He cried loud enough to wake Diego in a panic. Hands on his knives, eyes still hazy from sleep, he looked around the room, vigilent. “No ! Please,” Klaus choked on his words while Ben tried to wake him up.

“Hey, come on, dude,” He soothed while gently shaking his brother. He actually had no idea what he was doing with the shaking ; He'd never been able to touch the man before.

“Klaus ?” Luther asked from his side of the 'bag-bed'.

“Shut the fuck up,” Ben snapped, because at least, that was something he knew not to do. “Don't say his name, it'll make it worse.” He shouldn't have snapped, they didn't know. But he had no time to cater for his brother. By the time Klaus snapped out of his night terror, everyone was awake, hovering behind him and Ben. “It's alright, you're not in the mausoleum, you're safe.”

He gripped his sobbing brother tight, and shushed him with soft words, coaxing him back into reality.

“Breath in,” he started out of habit, and Klaus obeyed, out of habit. “Hold.” Behind them, their siblings whispered, theorized, gasped. “Breath out.” Ben shut them up in one fell gesture of his free hand, the other petting his brother's hair. “Hold.” They stayed like that for a while, until Klaus fell back asleep in his arms. The room went quiet as he stopped instructing his brother how to breath. A whisper broke the unreal silence.

“What the hell was that all about ?” Diego was supposed to be intelligent, Ben had to remind himself.

“That was the reason we had to leave, I guess.” At least Five was clever enough for them all.

“Yeah,” Ben aswered as he put Klaus back on the floor. “Dear old Dad's torture. Klaus never got used to it, go figure.” They tried to go back to sleep for a while after that. The sun blazed through the window before any of them could actually catch some more rest.

 

Seven little kids that survived two weeks with the money they'd stolen from their father.

 

 


	3. The no good, terrible decision of that first morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Money's not the siblings' forte.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think about it, only Vanya actually lived a somewhat normal life, with a normal sense of money and budget...

Ben had no idea how this happened. No, scratch that, he knew, but he tried very hard to forget.

 

The first day was a bit of a blur. No one had slept very well, they were still surrounded by dirty needles and definitely-not-to-be-touched stains. Diego unpacked some food for an improvised breakfast ; a pack of cereals, a few biscuits and four oranges. They all contemplated life in stunned silence while the chilly morning faded away.

“What now ?” Diego asked, throwing cereals up in the air and catching them in his mouth.

“We've got the shelter, next step is the food, that won't last forever.” Five ate the last of his orange, and put the two halves of the carefully peeled skin back in the bag.

“Oh, we can't stay here.” Klaus said, pacing the room and kicking the needles littering the floor. Ben frowned.

“Hey, leave those alone, you're thirteen again.” Klaus rolled his eyes and shrugged, then went to the window, making his way around a specific spot in the middle of the room. A ghost, no doubt.

“Why can't we stay ? Not that I'm complaining.” Allison was focused very hard on anything but the ground. Klaus shrugged again.

“People come and go,” he answered, cryptic. “ What we need is to pawn off Dad's crap.” Whoever he saw out in the courtyard made him scratch the back of his neck. “Come on, pack up, we're leaving.”

“Let's make plans before we act, for once.” Five made no move to get up. “So...”

“What plans ? There's no plan, we just need to stay on the move.” Number four's nails disappeared fast between his teeth. Ben went to his side and grabbed his arm.

“Klaus, you're not alone anymore. You don't have to do everything by yourself. _We_ 'll keep you safe.” _They_ bubbled to the surface for a second because _they_ too, were completely devoted to protecting _Their_ brother. Klaus relaxed just a smidge. It was enough for _Them_.

“All right, all right,” he sighed.

“Come on, let's sit down and think about it. We have two priorities ; Get cash and find a place for tonight.” Ben only let go of Klaus' arm when he sat down on the matress.

“Money,” Five snorted, “What a useless waste of time.”

“Why didn't we...” Vanya started. “Why didn't you take Father's cash, instead of his stuff ?” Klaus looked at her like she had two heads.

“I still don't get why we have to leave this place already.”

“Vanya dear, you know Dad doesn't own cash right ? He owns gold ingots. Do you know how hard it is to sell a gold ingot ?” Vanya's eyes widened. “It is very hard, let me tell you.”

“It's illegal without proper identification,”

“We can't withhold a squat from other people. And the more we move, the less we'll attract unwanted attention.”

“Diego, soul of my life and flower of my...” Klaus stopped when he saw the look of murder in his brother's eyes. He waved a hand in the air to reset the mood. “Illegal is meaningless on the streets as long as you don't get caught.”

“Whatever,” Diego gritted through his teeth. “So half of us go find a place, and the other half go to the pawn shop.” Klaus groaned and leaned dramatically into Ben's chest. “What now ?”

“We can't just wander the streets with our big bags and our pretty little a... faces.”

“Why not ?” Luther asks, always the innocent.

“Huuuuh,” Klaus turned to Ben, a hand up in the air, a look of 'please help me, I don't want to break him' on his face.

“The police !” Ben blurted out. It was true anyway. Not what Klaus was talking about but well.

“Couldn't they help us ?” Urgh.

“And send us right back to Dad as soon as they recognise us ?”

“Okay enough, everyone shut up !” Five had his head in his hands, and his left foot tapped rythmically on the ground. “Okay,” he said once he had everyone's attention. “Klaus. What do you suggest we do ?” Klaus had nothing to suggest obviously. He wasn't known for thinking ahead.

“Well, there's seven of us.” Ben took the lead, and noticed his brother's shoulders drop in relief. “Two of us can go to the pawn shop...”

“I'll do it,” Luther raised his hand and looked determined. Diego snorted and Luther shot him a death glare.

“O-kayy ?” Ben sidetracked for a second, recollecting his thoughts. “We can hide the bags somewhere safe. Klaus and I will go look for a place, and the other three can... huh.”

“That's stupid, you and Klaus should each lead a group to scout twice as much area.” Five, always the pragmatic. Ben snorted at the suggestion of leaving Klaus' side. Five raised an eyebrow.

“You're... you're not serious, right ?” Doesn't he know... No, he doesn't know. “That guy absolutely cannot be left on his own in the streets. No offense, bro,” he added, turning to Klaus. His drama queen of a brother wiped a fake tear off his eye.

“None taken,” he whispered, turning his head away, a hand on his mouth.

“He won't be alone, you dunce. Any of us can keep an eye on him.”

“Alright, does any of you knows how to talk him down from a panic attack ?”

“Hey, you know I'm not...” Klaus started, “I'm not made of glass, I can take care of myself.” Ben snorted again.

“Yeah, right, so which one's on your mind, hmm ?” He sounded a bit aggressive, if he must admit, as he grabbed Klaus' arm and jabbed a thumb right where the trackmarks are... will litter the crook of his elbow. “Crack, heroin ?”

“Ben...” His brother's voice sounded weird.

“Which one will you take to get rid of them ?” Ben gestured wildly around the room toward probable ghosts, aware of the tinge of hysteria in his tone. “Will you wait until tonight ? Or will you OD on _Us_ in the afternoon ?”

“Ben, you're hurting me...” _They_ let go of _Their_ brother's flesh like it was hot iron under _Their_ touch and he froze. For an eternity, nothing moved.

“Hm, Ben ?” He took a big gulp of air, suddenly feeling out of breath.

“Shit. Fuck.” Nothing else came to his mind right now. Exept crippling guilt and shame. He burried his face in his hands, and rubbed away the weird feeling of numbness around his cheeks. “I'm sorry, I...” He trailed off, because he had no excuse whatsoever.

“Is it Them ?” He could probably blame _Them_ to get away with it. But that didn't sit well with him right now. He shrugged, and that was was that.

 

There wasn't much debating on who'd go with Luther. Neither Vanya nor Allison wanted anything to do with him right now, and everyone agreed it wasn't a good idea to partner him to Diego. So Five was the last option. Allison and Vanya went with Diego to case the city and _not_ be suspicious. They'd regroup in front of the library at nine p.m.

And well. What did they expect, sending a guy that had lived in his father's billionaire's mansion and never touched money in his life, and another that spent forty five years in a world devoid of all concept of money, then proceeded as an assassin living in pre-paid motel rooms and mini bar meals.

 

They'd found each other in the afternoon and had gone to the city to buy appliance and food they'd missed during their meager morning. Five had spent the rest of his day in the library. When Klaus and Ben arrived at nine p.m, their attention was immediately set on the four huge plastic bags at Luther and Vanya's feet.

“What's all this ?” Klaus asked, because he was in a good mood ; The Ermine Cabin was empty, and he loved that place.

“A mini cooking stove, and some cleaning stuff...” Luther started. “Oh, and noise cancelling...”

“And I guess you're the one who's gonna carry all that stuff everywhere ?” Klaus cut him off.

“How much money did you get from Dad's stuff anyway ?” Ben asked, setting their priorities straight. Five was coming down the stairs, and answered instead.

“Around five hundred dollars, the guy said.” Klaus and Ben blanked for a while.

“That's not a lot...” Vanya said, frowning in concern. She was still a bit flushed from her day of trudging around the city behind her two trained siblings.

“Fivey, my good brother, tell me I misheard, and you said five thousand dollars.” Klaus was tense as a bow string.

“I'm pretty sure the bald man said five hundred. I'm good with math, you know.”

“And... And you, like, sold everything ?”

“Yeah.”

“Ben,” Klaus turned to his brother, “Ben, we're fucked.”

“That bag was worth ten grands.” Was all Ben could muster to say.

 


	4. One good news

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I retroactively have to change the time frame of their survival on Reginald's money, because I would have to artificially drag the story for another week, and I can't. So, they survived one week, not two, before running out of money (ref. End of second chapter.) thanks for your understanding :)

There was nothing they could do about the money. There were actually approximately a hundred an ten plans Five had come up with before they ate that evenning. None that wouldn't attract the attention of either the police, the commission, or the numerous gangs and street thugs. Ben had seethed, and Klaus had rationnalised.

“No, It's alright,” He'd said with a smile, “There are plenty of ways to get money, yeah ? And we don't even need to spend any on drugs ! All is good.” He almost hadn't sounded distressed. “Yeah, all is good.”

On the third day, they once again hid their luggage around town, under dumpsters that wouldn't move for the day. They wore civilian clothes, ones they'd bought in a thrift store the day before. There wasn't much money left, and Ben tried not to remember 'Those dumbasses' Tragic Mistake'. They went to sit in a park, around a big cement table. Today was a school free day, so there were plenty of children for them to blend with.

“We need to think about the next step.” Five announced as he pulled out a notebook and a pen he'd found in the thrift store. “We can't just...” he gestured around, “Do that forever. I thought about a way to get us back to our time. Well, your time, technically my time is right now... I'm still working on the formula, but it can be done, I'm sure of it, I just need more time to rest before time jumping again with all of us and...”

“What would happen to our younger selves ?” Vanya asked, because she was the only one to dare interrupt Five when he rambled on like that. “Once 'we' are gone, what happens to them ?” Five stared at her, opened his mouth, closed it again, and frowned. And then he buried his head in his notebook, scribbling furiously what looked like a new formula. Ben had gotten used to peek over peoples' shoulders. Turns out, people don't like that when they know they're being peeked at. Five scowled at him until he backed away.

“Well, until then,” Klaus picked up the conversation with a clap of his hands, “what fun activity can we fill our day with ?”

“How about finding a place ?” Diego said. “A real place, not a one night stand place.”

“Diego, we're children, nobody will rent us a place,” Luther answered, for once being the voice of reason.

“Besides, we've got no money,” Vanya added.

“Yeah, whose fault is that ?” Diego continued. Luther straightened up on his seat.

“I swear,” Allison got up from the bench, “If you two start a fight, I'll punch you both in the guts.” She had her hands up, one toward each boy. “Can't I rumor a landlord to at least overlook our child status,” She asked, looking pointedly at Five, “or will that attract someone's attention too ?” Five took a second to react.

“Well, I guess,” he shrugged, “If we find the right person... Someone who doesn't ask questions...” and then he was back in his notebook. “This timeline's fucked...” He muttered to himself as he scribbled away like a madman.

“What about my place ?”

“What about your place ?” Allison asked. Five had stopped writing, but he was still burried in his notes.

“Well, Al doesn't give two shits, and the rent's almost non existant.”

“Who's Al ?” Asked Vanya.

“The owner of the boxing club where I live. He rents me the boiler room.”

“something tied to your previous lives...” Five said, pensive.

“What, you're gonna say we can't go there because the commission will find us or something ?” Diego spat, arms crossed. Five didn't answer right away, still lost in his thoughts. When he snapped out of it, he pointed his pen at Diego.

“No, that actually might be a good thing ! Something to normalize the timeline...” Before he went back to his notepad and left them hanging, Vanya intervened.

“Are you saying we should go to Diego's old place to actually _avoid_ the commission's attention ?” Five looked at her, brows furrowed.

“Exactly, yes.”

 

Diego went to the boxing club alone with Allison. They didn't want to show up all at once. No need to warp their chances. They still needed to think about their money problem anyway. With all their siblings' expenses, they had about a hundred dollars left before they were officially pennyless. Ben had a bad feeling about that. Klaus was strangely silent, and a weird smile floated about his face. He could see him flinch from time to time.

But well, he didn't dwell too long on that ; They'd have an actual place by the end of the day ! The siblings had eagerly waited their brother and sister's return, in the back alley of the building next to the boxing club. Vanya still clearly avoided Luther, but who could blame her. Luther looked pensive, oblivious to Vanya's effort to steer clear of him. It was probably all his recent mistakes, or their current living situation, but he seemed less arrogant, maybe ? He was slouching a bit on himself. When Allison and Diego came back, they didn't let anything show on their faces. Shit, bad news ?

“We got it.” Diego said, flinging his arms up in the air. A grin painted his face as they all started to react. “For the low low price of cleaning the floor every night.”

A last, one good news.

They spent the rest of the day retrieving their bags, then settling down in the boiler room. Diego complained about retrofitting the place all over again. But everyone else was delighted to call the place their home. When evenning came about, Luther decided to once again grace them with his stupidity.

“How about we go celebrate at Griddy's ?”

“Absolutely not,” Ben couldn't stop himself fast enough. “Do you have any concept of money at all ?”

 


	5. Strenght in Numbers

Ben was surprised it didn't happen sooner, honestly. Sure, they were careful, and their siblings actually listened to them for once. Most of the time, anyway. But well, it was their first night in their new home that Luther told them about his meeting with reality.

 

The night was warm, and okay, on that first day, Klaus and Ben had considered their siblings' purchases unnecessary package, but the sleeping bags were actually kind of nice.

“You remember that weird guy you told us to avoid ?” Luther asked out of the blue. Klaus hummed to let him know he was listening. Ben listened as well, half asleep. “I... He came to talk to me this afternoon.” Ah. Shit. Fuck. He was wide awake now.

“What did he say ?” Klaus asked as delicately as he could. Luther wasn't actually a child, but he was pretty innocent and naive.

“Huh, he... He talked about doing weird stuff with me. He wanted to know why I was on the streets.”

“And... What did you say ?”

“Hum, well...” That didn't sound good. “At first I said we were homeless and...”

“You said 'we' ?” Holy shit on a stick.

“No but I didn't say anything else, I told him to leave me alone, and I left.” How much of a stupid fuck could Luther really be ?

“And you made sure he didn't follow you or anything, right ?”

“Yeah ! Of course I did, I'm not an idiot.” Huh, debatable. Ben felt Klaus sit up suddenly.

“We have to leave ! Right now !” The others stirred, grunted, then shifted in their own sleeping bags. Ben sat up. He could outline his brother's features against the moonlight flooding their new found place of their own.

“Hey, Klaus ?” He said in a soft tone. His brother had shown a tendency to forget he wasn't alone anymore. “You know, if someone comes, we can defend ourselves, right ? Maybe we can think about our next move in the morning ?” Ben put a hand on his brother's arm.

“Oh right, yeah, yeah...” Klaus made no move to go back to sleep, though. “Maybe I should be on lookout for the night, yeah ?” A muffled, sleepy voice came from Diego's sleeping bag.

“Don't worry, I sleep with one eye open, buddy.” Klaus hummed, not too sure on what to do yet. “I got my knives right there.” Something clinked, the sound sharp and metalic.

“Okay,” Klaus whispered after a while, before getting back under his cover. Ben didn't lie back down right away. He considered the shuddering form of his brother, and looked at the moon through the high windows for a while. Outside, he listened to the faint rumor of cars passing above their heads. In the distance, laughter. Nothing alarming.

 

The next morning, nothing any of them could say swayed Klaus' pressing need to get the hell out of here. Ben didn't talk him out of his frenzied panic right away. He knew what 'that weird guy', as Luther had put it, was capable of. His name was Damien, and he could very well be devil's incarnate. Ben would kill him the second he'd try something, though. He was done being the silent bystander, done being forced to watch his brother being beaten and worse -much worse- without being able to do anything. But they had a home now, so Ben intervened.

“Klaus, my dude, we can't just leave this place.”

“Yes we can, and we should.” He was packing his stuff, hissing at his siblings who didn't move a finger to help him.

“Luther told you he was careful, that he wasn't followed. Don't you trust him ?”

“No.” Luther looked disappointed, but didn't try to defend himself. Ben pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Hey,” Diego said. “What do you say I go case the city, see what I can find out about what he's planning or whatever ?”

“How about you don't do that, and don't end up chained in his basement for a month ?” Klaus stated, still cramming his bag full of everything they had decorated the place with. He hadn't let any emotion let through his voice. But Ben's throat closed up, and he urged himself to breath.

“Don't be silly,” Diego snorted. He opened his mouth again, but then Ben saw the moment he crossed eyes with Klaus and he realised. Number Two's eyes got huge, and then he crossed his arms. “You- You- You-...” He furrowed his brows, uncrossed his arms, took a few steps toward Klaus, and waved a hand in front of him. He scratched his throat, and composed himself again. “You know I'm- I'm skilled right ? I wouldn't- wouldn't- wouldn't get caught as easily...” He scratched his throat again, stroked the back of his neck and rubbed a hand on his mouth. “That's... That's not what I meant, huh...” Everyone but Luther seemed to have caught on what Klaus had just dropped out of the blue. A single, silent tear ran down Allison's cheek. From where he stood, Ben could hear Five grinding his teeth.

And then everything started to vibrate in the room. Their bags shimmied, the brooms in the corner rattled, The plastic gobelets fell down from the edge of the sink, and then everything was still again. Vanya took deep breaths as her eyes went slowly back from white to brown.

“What the hell is going on ?” Luther exclaimed, and Vanya flinched away from him instinctively.

“Shut up, you monkey,” Diego replied without hesitation. But then the unthinkable occurred. “Sorry...” Diego said, his face contorting in what could only be disgust. Luther frowned, still not sure what the hell was going on. “Klaus.” Diego turned to his brother, who stood still near their sleeping bags. “If I go with Luther, we'll be safe, you think ?” Klaus didn't answer right away. The bag in his hand looked full to the brim. He ran a hand on its rough surface and shrugged.

“I guess ?” He said in a small, unsure voice. Ben went to his side, and put a hand on his shoulder. Oh, how he'd missed being able to do that.

“I think they'll be safe too, man.”

 

Before they crossed the threshold of their home, Ben heard Diego admonish their clueless Number One.

“I'll explain once, so you better listen, you...” And they were gone.

 


	6. The money, the ghosts and the drugs

Five helped Vanya tidy up the things that had fallen all over the floor when she'd lost control.

“We should think about making a budget,” Vanya said while she picked two brooms off the floor. “It could help.” She didn't have to say it would help the others realise the importance of money.

“Maybe you should be doing it,” Ben told her, “You might be the only one who's had a healthy relationship with money. I mean, you had a real job and a real appartment !”

“Hey, I had too,” Allison gasped.

“Were you the one taking care of the money though ?” Ben asked, not too sure about it. She was a star after all. “Didn't you have too much to care anyway ?” Allison crossed her arms, defensive, but deflated as she admitted he was right.

“Yeah okay, maybe Vanya should do it after all.”

Klaus had put his bag down, and now he paced on the raised platform that lead to the door. He was hugging himself and glancing around the room with dread in his eyes. Ben went up to him, leaned on the banister with crossed arms, and looked at his brother's anxious pacing.

“How many are there ?” He asked without the need to clarify who 'they' were. Klaus' voice was just a whisper when he answered.

“Nine. They're all angry.” That was code for 'they won't shut the fuck up for a second and wouldn't hesitate to kill me if they could'. Ben fought _Them_ away. There was nothing _They_ could do about the ghosts. He shuddered when _They_ finally settled back in the back of his... their mind. When he was done calming themself down, he noticed Klaus rub the crook of his arm. The one where he'd hurt him. _They_ saw the traces of _Their_ handprint on _Their_ brother's pale, fragile, delicate skin. Guilt is a hell of a thing for someone who is _Many_. He fought off the urge to grovel in tears and self pity to stop Klaus in his tracks. He almost didn't dare touch him. But he needed to.

“Wanna talk about it ?” He said, a hand on Klaus' shoulder. His brother hummed, not aware yet he'd stopped moving. They both understood it wasn't about the ghosts anymore. Well. In a sense it was. Everything was.

“Not really.” His attention darted around the room, before settling on Ben. He painted a soft smile on his face. “I'm okay, brother dear,” he said as he envelloped Ben's hand in his own. He squeezed, revelling in the physical contact for a while. He leaned his head toward their jumbled hands, and started to cry. Soft, silent tears rolled off his cheeks. Ben shot forward and they hugged.

The others were silent behind Ben's back, and he didn't care what they were doing. A few minutes passed before he felt Klaus falter down. So they slid against the grey, bare wall of their home. Klaus put his head on Ben's shoulder, and he leaned on Klaus' head. When they talked, it was just whispers. Broken, shaky whispers.

“I don't know how to do this, Benny.”

“Do what, man ?”

“I... I can't remember who I was before.” Before the drugs, he didn't need to specify. “What do people do all day ?” He laughed weakly. “How am I supposed to endure it everyday ?” Ben looked around the room. Klaus saw nine angry, yelling specters, clawing at him and blaming him for their death, seeking retribution, help, attention. Klaus saw the way their broken limbs moved sickenly, the way their flesh peeled, melted, bubbled, rotted. Klaus saw a room full of nightmares, and he'd see it all day, everyday. Ben saw his siblings, sitting on the floor in a circle, buried in notebooks and sharing their ideas. Ben saw home, and it broke his heart knowing Klaus would never be able to do so without... Without help. Without drugs. Without wasting his mind away. All of it just to stay sane, to try at a normal life.

“We'll find a way. You might find out you can push them away or something. In the meantime, why don't you give knitting another try ?” Klaus snickered and sniffled.

“Why not. We'll need all the sweaters we can get for the winter.” They stayed silent for a while, so much that Ben thought his brother had fallen asleep. “I miss him so much, Benny,” he said out of the blue, voice strangled from sobbing too much. 

“Yeah, I know, buddy,” Ben answered, hugging him tighter. He curled up even more on himself, and pressed his hands on his eyes as he wailed.

 

They didn't move until Diego and Luther came back. They must have fallen asleep after all, because Vanya was making do with what little food they had left, trying her best to make a real lunch with the under equipped kitchen.

“You guys alright ?” Diego asked when he saw them on the floor, tangled in each other.

“Depends on what you're gonna say,” Klaus shrugged, rubbing his eyes. Luther was silent and tense. Apparently, he and Diego had a serious talk. They got up and met the other in the middle of the room.

“So, doesn't seem like he's planning anything.”

“How would you know ?”

“I... Come on, man, don't doubt me like that. We followed him. At a good distance,” he added before Klaus could interrupt again. “He was minding his business. He's... He's a drug dealer, right ?” He asked softly. Klaus shrugged again.

“Yeah. Why ?”

“Huh. Nothing, just... Making sure. He, huh... Well, it doesn't look like he's gonna, I don't know,” he shrugged, “raid the place, or- or- or anything.” Klaus sighed, but he seemed to relax. Ben wasn't sure Diego or Luther could judge anything about Damien, and their little mission had less to do with assessing the bastard's plans or whatever, and more to do with a pretexte to calm Klaus down. Not that any of them would say anything. Ben stayed ready to welcome Damien anyway, though.

 

They all helped 'set the table' ; There was no table, they simply cleared the middle of the room of the notes and clothes and bags. And Ben caught a glimpse of Luther's hands. His knucles were scratched and bloody, like he'd punched a wall repeatedly. Now that he paid attention, his eyes were puffed and red. Their conversation must have been one hell of an eye opener. They sat down in a circle with their carton plates, cradling the last pre-steamed potatoes and fish fingers they'd bought the day before, and started eating in silence. Five broke it first.

 

“So. About the money.”

 


	7. The things he did to survive

“We've been thinking about ways to make money. But as you all imagine, being kids restrains our possibilities.” He made a face when he burned his tongue with the bit of potatoe stuck on his fork.

“So what did you think about ?” Luther asked to bring Five's attention back in the conversation. His voice shook ever so slightly. He'd been screaming.

“Well, that's the thing. We, hum... We don't really know. Maybe...” Ben had never seen Five so unsure of himself before. It was a trip. He had turned to him and Klaus. “Maybe you could tell us what you... what we can do ?” Ben felt the plastic fork break under his grip as he tried to rein _Them_ under control.

“Vanya could play the violin on the streets !” Klaus exclaimed, delighted at the idea.

“I don't have my violin, it stayed ho... At the mansion.” Klaus slumped a bit, a theatrical feat when he was already sitting on the ground. “We could go and take it during the night ?” She offered, and he lit up again.

“That would be ama~zing !” He sing-songed. They ate a bit, before Luther picked the conversation up again.

“Any... Anything else we could do ?” He scratched the back of his head, but finally asked what was really on his mind. “If I may ask, huh...” Listening to Luther trying to be polite and careful was really weird. “Could we maybe know what you... What you did to, hum...” When Ben tried to speak, _They_ noticed _They_ hadn't been breathing. As _They_ took a big gulp of air, _They_ saw Klaus wave a hand in the air dismissively.

“Poker ?” He suggested as if unsure. Yes. Poker was alright. Ben could untense. “But without Benny to peek at the others' cards, that's off the table.” Klaus stared in the distance, and the others buried themselves in their plates. Everyone knew what Klaus did to survive, Ben could tell from their knotted shoulders and their gazes carefully avoiding _Theirs_. Everyone knew, so why did they keep poking like that ? Did they want to actually hear it or something ?

They finished eating in silence, and one by one, they got up to put their plate in the sink. They should buy real plates.

“Well, If nothing else, I could always...” Klaus started, but Ben interrupted him immediately.

“No. Nuh-huh, no way.”

“Well, you don't even know what I was gonna suggest.”

“You know that I know. It's still no.”

“He's the only one who's survived in the streets, though, so...” Luther said.

“Yeah, and I'm saying he won't do anymore of it.”

“Can we at least know what...” Luther was interrupted by Diego jabbing an elbow into his side.

“Yeah, no.” He was seething now.

“Ben,” Klaus said, rolling his eyes, “If there's no other way, I can at least...”

“No,” _They_ said. Everyone fell silent. Ben took a deep breath, before continuing. “Klaus, there's seven of us. We'll find something.”

“Okay, well, what am I supposed to do then ? I'm not allowed to do anything without your seal of approval, so tell me, Oh Lord,” he said, bowing like a well-mannered aristrocratic woman, “Whatever shall I do ?”

“Anything but that,” _They_ said, shaking in frustration. Why was Klaus such a butt-head ?

“Well, Benny-Boy, when we'll all be starving in a week, don't come crying to papa !”And with that said, he stormed out of the room.

“I won't !” Ben spat out, _Their_ voice booming in anger. _They_ had to go after him. _They_ couldn't leave him alone on the street. But _They_ didn't trust _Themself_ to move just yet. _They_ wriggled under _Their_ skin, dying to squeeze something, dying to unfurl and take _Their_ anger out on something, dying to burst out and... and...

“FUCK !” _They_ screamed, infusing all _Their_ frustration into that one word.

 

Klaus can't be doing anything too stupid dressed like that. Right ? No, what the fuck was he thinking, this wasn't good, Klaus will absolutely do something stupid if left unattended. And a kid in a uniform ? Ben shuddered in anguish at the mere thought of what could happen.

“I have to go after him,” he said, and in his panic, he didn't quiet remember he was alive ; He bumped into Luther and bouced back in shock.

“Wh...” Oh, Right.

“Maybe you should stay here.” Luther said, concern in in his voice and a frown on his face. “Cool down maybe ?”

“You know what, Ben ?” Allison asked, her voice gentle. “I figure giving him some space, some benefit of the doubt could be good. Yeah ?” It felt weird, not being in the same room as Klaus.

“Sounds good, doesn't work,” he answered, disheartened and spent all of a sudden.

“Come on, man, give him ten minutes, he'll be back.” Diego continued.

“Yeah, he will...” But what will he have done ?

 

Ben didn't listen to the others' conversation while they all waited and kept thinking about what to do about the damn money.  _ They _ kept resurfacing, and had to calm down every few minutes. If Klaus came back alive, he would kill him. 

 

Too long, he was out for too long. Anything could have happened by now. Ben paced in the same spot Klaus had that morning. What the hell was he doing ? When the door opened, Ben whipped his head around to see the state of his brother. He seemed fine. He had a paper bag in his hand. His clothes were untouched, his hair tidy, his eyes... clear. Thank god.

“Where...” his voice trailed off when Klaus took a bundle of money out of his pocket without looking at him. “What did you do ?” he hoped there would be accusation in his tone. Rage, resentment would have been fine. There was just sadness and anguish. Klaus threw the bundle of money on the counter of the kitchen, and flung himself above the banister.

“Calm your tits, I just pick pocketed some guy.” He landed gracefully, and went to sit on a bag, far away from Ben. From his paper bag, he took out knitting needles and yarn, and proceeded to ignore everyone while he applied himself in his task.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're approaching the pinnacle of where I wanted to take the story. Maybe I'll have some ideas on how to keep the story going, but if not, I'll end it there. If you've got idea on where it could go from there, feel free to suggest anything !


	8. Slippery slope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @mieczyhale for the ideas and leads !

The evening went by in an awkward silence. That night had been Vanya and Diego's turn to clean the floors of the club. Klaus refused to speak to Ben, and they went to bed quickly. The next day went by uneventfully. Allison and Five went to buy food and supplies they could buy now that they had a home and... Funding. Five buried himself in notebooks once more, and Diego decided to help Vanya with her powers. The boxing club was closed for the day, so they went upstairs.

Luther helped Ben hang fairy lights all around the room, because Klaus had woken up from a nightmare one too many times in the darkness of the boiler room. They twisted them around the pillar, the banister, above the sink, over the cumulus. Klaus observed from the corner of his eye, knitting away a bright pink... Something.

That night, they woke up to a gun shot right above their heads. They shot up from their beds, disoriented.

“Get down !” Klaus had lunged forward, tackling Five to the ground before fumbling around blindly. Outside, some clamor, and a second shot. “Damn those Viets, where's my rifle !” And then Five was gone from under Klaus' grasp with a pop and a blue light. “Dave ! Dave, where...” Ben launched himself at Klaus' side, trying to calm his veteran brother down, getting punched in the process. When Five came back, Klaus was mumbling and crying in Ben's arms, but at least he wasn't attacking anyone. They turned to him expectantly.

“Street thugs, the police will be there soon.” He had expected the comission. He was shaking, but managed to look composed anyway. He nodded toward Klaus.

“War flash back ?” Ben silently acquiesced. He felt his cheek hot where he'd been punched. “Is there anything we can help with ?” Five asked, a hand in his hair.

“Nah, just... get back to sleep, he'll calm down eventually. Calm and quiet will do the trick.”

“What's that about war ?” Luther whispered, sliding into his sleeping bag. Maybe Klaus wouldn't mind if they knew a bit about it ?

“Well, it started when Hazel and Cha Cha kidnapped him...”

“He was kidnapped ?” Luther gasped, and everyone shushed him angrily. Klaus had barely flinched, but they kept quiet for a while.

“So. Back when they attacked the mansion looking for Five...”

 

He skimmed the details he judged Klaus would have wanted to keep to himself. As he told his story, flashing blue and red lights illuminated the room through the windows, and Ben covered his brother's eyes. He seemed asleep, but he still whimpered from time to time. They talked for a while, unable to go back to sleep. First they wanted to know more about Klau's time in the war, but Ben didn't want to take away those stories from Klaus, so they talked about other things.

They asked what it was like to be a ghost, and then slowly, they each shared something of their life. Something they couldn't tell before, maybe because it had been awhile since they'd really talked, or maybe because they didn't have the opportunity to bring it up. But as the conversation died down, and Ben was convinced some of them had fallen asleep, Five spoke up, voice strangled and just... weird.

“Hey, can we know... Can you tell us what... What is it that you don't want Klaus to do so much ?” Ben's mind went blank.

“Was he a drug dealer ?” Luther asked, his voice soft and his tone so. Fucking. Innocent. A drug dealer ? Where they too afraid of saying it ?

“Luther,” Vanya said, “I don't think you should prode further, if he doesn't want to talk about it...”

“It's okay,” Five continued, “none of us will judge, you know ?”

“You...” Ben finally said, snapping out of wherever his mind had gone. “You honestly don't have a clue ?”

“I don't think they do,” Diego snapped. He had raised his voice ever so slightly, from frustration maybe. “The only reason _I_ know is because I actually picked him up from the station, Ben. But I guess you were there all those times, right ?”

“Holy shit, I thought...” He licked his lips, dry and numb for some reason. “I guess I didn't think, huh ?”

“So... Will you tell us ?” Five of all people shouldn't sound so lost. He was old, right ? He should know. Or... Or maybe he couldn't have known. He's spent all his life in utter isolation. Shit, of course he didn't know.

Klaus wasn't ashamed of what he did to survive. But was it really okay, to unpack this to his family ?

“I think maybe Klaus should be the one to tell you.”

“For god's sake, you know he'll never talk about it,” Diego said.

“Well then, one more reason for it to stay that way. We might have shared privacy, but I'm not about to spill every secret of his.” After that, everyone fell silent, and one by one, finally went to sleep under the soothing glow of the fairy lights.

 

Five and Allison went to steal Vanya's violin the next night. They told them about it afterwards ; Their portraits were gone. In their place, one of Reginald's self portraits hung, looking down on them with his cold, uncaring eyes. They had seen mom recharging on her bench. She seemed fine.

 

So with her violin and Luther as a bodyguard, Vanya went and played on the streets. Diego and Allison went in the suburbs, half an hour away, and offered to mow lawns and wash cars. Apparently people had been a little guarded at first, but the two of them were doing a good job. Five would bury himself in his research all day, emerging only to grab coffee and fluffer nutters. And Klaus and Ben well...

Ben was torn between helping the others get money, and keep an eye on Klaus. Number Four wasn't doing very well. He could barely sleep, as if his PTSD flash back from the other night had opened a valve in his mind. He would zone out more and more, coming back from wherever he had drifted shivering and weeping. Each time, Ben would gently nudge him into the communal showers and help him wash his sweat away.

 

They earned quiet a bit of money, to be fair. But there were seven of them. They all had to eat, and they spent more money than they earned.

So, on the tenth day, Five assured Ben he would keep an eye on Klaus, and he went to help Diego and Allison. They spent the day trimming an edge, cleaning a garage, raking leaves off a street and washing a car. The owner of that car, a middle-aged woman, offered them a glass of orange juice.

“You look worried, boy,” she told him as he patted the sweat off of his forehead with his sleeve. Well, lady, you would too, if your ex-junkie brother with PTSD was breaking down and you had no way of helping alleviate his suffering. He shrugged, looking for some believable escape he could tell her.

“Our dog's sick,” Allison said, saving him the effort. “He needs surgery, but we don't have enough money. That's why we're doing this,” she said, her sad smile a deadly trap. And the lady fell for it.

“Oh, my poor kids, that's so sweet of you.” They left with twice the amount she had promised them at first, and a promise she would vouch for them to the other neighboors. They could have had time to take on one more job, but Ben was just too jittery. He couldn't keep his mind off of Klaus, and when _They_ moved under his skin so much that Allison let out a gasp, they finally decided to go back.

 

It was barely nightfall when they arrived. Ben rushed in to see his brother, who was... Nowhere to be seen. He pounced on Five, who hadn't even looked up when they'd entered. But he had barely grabbed the little assassin's collar, that he found himself pressed against the cold floor, Five on his back twisting his arms in his back, and a pen on _Their_ jugular.

“Jesus, Ben !” Five exclaimed, suddenly jumping off of _Them_.

“Jesus, Five !” Allison echoed at the same time.

“What ? Don't startle me like that, kids !” The Boy defended. “Why did you do that anyway ?” He asked, still a bit flushed from the sudden attack.

“Where's Klaus ?” _They_ managed to ask as _They_ turned around and massaged _Their_ sore shoulders.

 


	9. The thing he did for them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for puking, I don't know much about trigger warnings, let me know, if there are others I should put down

“He's right... There,” Five said, gesturing at Klaus' usual spot on the pile of bags. His needles and yarn were tossed in the middle of the improvised pouffe. “Oh. Maybe he's in the shower ?”

“For fuck's sake, Five, do you even know how long he's been gone ?” _They_ yelled. Five took a step back, and his posture changed ever so slightly, leaving no openings for an attack.

“Ben, why don't you and huh... _Them_ calm down ?” Allison had inched forward, looking at _Them_ worriedly. 

“ _We_ 'll calm down when _We_ 'll know where Klaus is.” But _They_ breathed in anyway. _They_ didn't want to actually kill _Their_ siblings.

“Last time I checked on him was...” Five walked to the watch they'd found on the streets a few days ago and had hung on the banister, “About an hour ago ?” Ben breathed a little. Okay, not that long then.

“It's almost night, we need to find him.”

 

First they checked the showers. But Ben didn't even hope he could actually be there. So they went in the streets. He was spent from today's work, but damn if he would let his brother alone because of it. Diego had vague ideas of where to look for him, so they split up in two groups. Ben and Allison went West, and Diego and Five went East. Ben looked in each alleyway, between each dumpster, in the lines of each of Klaus' favorite nightclub. Surely he couldn't have gone past the vigils right ? He was thirteen after all. Did he end up in a crack house, or had run into someone ? Fuck.

He ran to where he knew he could find Damien. Maybe... Maybe...

Damien was there, in front of the adult store Ben despised so much, sitting on a foldable chair next to some other guy Ben didn't recognise. He hid around the corner, gesturing Allison to keep quiet, and  _They_ listened.

“... Bought me some E, right ? But the guy had no money, and I said, 'hey dude, If you're stupid enough to steal from me, don't be surprised if I steal something of yours, right ?' So the guy said 'what ?' and then I went to his place and gutted his cat,” He laughed, a sick sound Ben had hoped he'd never hear again. But he'd heard that story, and he only ever told it when he was bored. And he wouldn't be bored if a desperate child waited for him in his own little private dungeon. _Let's kill him anyway. No more trouble._ No, no. _They_ couldn't kill like that. _It might be too late next time._ Ben shuddered and turned around to face Allison. Two hands clasped on her mouth, horror deformed the rest of her face.

“Yeah, he's a monster, but he doesn't have Klaus, let's go before _We_ do something stupid.”

 

He was nowhere. And they had looked everywhere. And finally, when their feet dragged on the ground, when their legs gave out under them, when weird men started calling them out, they had no choice but to go home. Maybe he'd be there, Ben dared to hope. Maybe... Maybe...

 

But he wasn't.  _They_ wailed in  _Their_ head. Strange, feeling  _Them_ so sad.  _They_ usually were angry or hungry and that was about it. Diego and Five had given up sooner than them apparently. They had caught Luther and Vanya up to speed. 

“He'll be back,” Luther patted him on the arm awkwardly. “It'll be okay.”

“Not another word. Please,” he said between gritted teeth. He'd planned to, what, stay planted there for the rest of the night ? But at some point, Diego came to him, and with a hand on his back, he pushed him toward the sleeping bags.

“Come on, we did everything we could.” They hadn't. They could have gone to every crack house in the city, entered every brothel and shoved every vigil away from the night clubs' entrances. _They_ didn't do everything. 

 

He let himself be put to bed, but damn if he'd fall asleep. He'd wait for him all night if he had to. He stubbornly fixed the slowly changing colors of the light garlands around the room. He'd spent fifteen years without sleep, he could skip a night. 

 

He couldn't.

 

He woke up to the familiar  _clik, clik, clik, clik_ , light, ghostly steps of his brother in high heels. A thought, far away, tugged at him. 'That idiot didn't even take the damn shoes off to be discreet'. He sat up, and waited for his brother to cross the threshold.  _Clik, clik, clik_ , closer now, heavier. Clumsier. 

“What the hell is that noise ?” Diego was up too, of course. And the others woke up as Klaus opened the door.

 

And Ben's heart shattered at the sight of his brother. The sparkling stiletto heels were nothing. He wore a mini skirt over obnoxious fishnet stockings, and a cropped jean vest over... nothing he could see from there. Everybody stood still, silent, shocked, or whatever else the others were feeling right now.

He just felt defeat as he witnessed his brother stumble to close the door behing him, quietly humming to himself. He felt sadness squeeze his insides as Klaus swayed on his way down the platform. He felt his throat close up and  _Them_ wanting to get out and just hold him as he took a wad of cash out of a little purse he held in uncertain hands. 

He wasn't paying attention to any of them, just making his way to the counter with the grace of a mannequin. One that had heavily drunk. And when he turned around, and he saw Ben standing in front of him, he just smiled sheepishly, and waved his hands around, gesture extravagant and shaky.

“Heyy, benny-bee !” He slurred, reeking of alcohol and cheap cologne and _sex_. From closer up, Ben saw the eyeliner, the sparkly eyelids, the smudged black lipstick. The purple marks around his neck. Ben wept silently, incapable of speaking. “Ooh, no~ don't do that ?” Klaus furrowed his brows and took a hesitant step forward. “Benny ?” He asked, his voice suddenly choked and tearful. Ben grabbed his brother into a gentle hug at first, not wanting to hurt him more. But then _They_ lost control and squeezed harder, _Their_ fists latching onto the back of his jean vest, _Their_ head buried in his frail, nude shoulder. _Their_ brother patted _Their_ head, shushing _Them_ and cooing at _Them_ as if _They_ were the one who needed it.

“Why ?” _They_ whispered, incapable of saying anything more. 

“It's alright, Benny boy,” he sing-songed, “I'm alright, don't worry.” Ben cried an ugly, wet cry as _They_ realised _They_ 'd been useless. What did _They_ do, that made Klaus think _They_ didn't care about him ? Why did he feel he had to push _Them_ away like everybody else ? 

“ _We_ 're so sorry,” _They_ cried out, and _Their_ legs gave out under _Them_. 

“Ben, you're heavy,” Klaus complained in annoyance, sorrow forgotten already, drowned by the haze of alcohol. _They_ felt hands on _Their_ back trying to rip _Them_ apart from each other, so _They_ growled to get them off. They faltered to the floor, Klaus awkwardly sitting on his side, legs out of under him. 

 

“Are- Are- Are- Are you okay ?” Diego's voice was soft, shaking.

“I'm fiiine,” Klaus said, rolling his eyes and struggling to take his shoes off. “Benny, c'mon, let's~... Let's go to bed, I'm spent.” _They_ didn't move immediately.

“No,” _They_ managed to say. “You're taking a shower first.” 

 

That shower was a shit show. It was apparent Klaus would be no help when he slumped on the floor and pouted, arms crossed on his puffed up chest. So Ben took the lead. He undressed him while they waited for the water to heat up, and threw the clothes in Diego's arms while Klaus complained.

“Hey, d'you mind ? Privacy an' ol' that...” Ben rolled his eyes.

“I've seen you in much worse situations, you douche bag, you brought this on yourself.” He requested make up remover, and Allison obliged. Klaus swayed to a tune only he could hear, his eyes closed as Ben wiped away the eyeshadow. It was purple, he noticed. 

When he was done, he tossed the cotton swabs in the paper bin that Five was holding out. The Boy was looking at the ground... Ashamed ? Could Five really feel shame ?

Klaus had stopped humming, and his head lolled forward as he threatened to fall asleep on them. “Come on, man, hold on a bit longer.” Ben's eyes stung like crazy as well, so he scratched them before reaching for the shower head. That's when Klaus decided to puke his insides out.

“For fuck's sake,” Ben whispered, indignant. As his brother emptied his stomach, Ben sprayed the sick down the drain with the shower head on jet position. He vaguely wondered why a boxing club would have such a luxury in its showers, but he didn't care enough to ponder over it. When Klaus was done, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He moved like a puppet, limbs loose and disjointed. As the hot water flowed down his head, he looked up and opened his mouth, and ben directed the water directly in it. He gargled, giggled and then coughed his lungs out. “Seriously ?”

“Benny, y'know wha' ?” He asked when his coughing fit subsided a bit.

“Tell me,” he said, rubbing shampoo in his hair.

“ They're gone. Poof,” he gestured in the air. “Silent,” he giggled, relieved.

“Yeah, I know, I'm happy for you.” At least one aspect of this night wasn't all negative. But he bestowed the worst part of washing his brother to the blood he noticed running down the drain. Klaus was covered in bruises, yes, but none of them were bleeding. He didn't have to think long about it though.

“For real ?” He wondered under his breath. With a sigh, he grabbed his brother's jaw and thus his attention. “Did you even think about using lube, you helpless hooker ?” The confusion in his green eyes was all the confirmation Ben needed. He let go of his brother's face, and gently turned him around to properly clean him with soap. “Your body's thirteen, Klaus, you shouldn't have... You should've been more careful.” There was no point in telling him off. He would do it all over again anyway. The only thing he could do now was help him heal.

 

In complete silence, he was wrapped in a towel like a burrito and the plan was to push him down the empty corridors. But his legs gave up on him halfway, so Luther carried him, bridal style, right up to his sleeping bag. He sat there, waiting patiently for Ben to find a pair of underwear and a clean t-shirt, and let himself be dressed up. While Ben did that, he silently gestured Vanya to dry his hair a bit more. Klaus couldn't help giggling as Vanya awkwardly kneaded his head with the towel. And then he was slid in his sleeping bag.

As he zipped him up, Ben had to breath hard and focus on keeping _Them_ calm. _They_ freaked out when _They_ realised just how helpless _Their_ brother was. _Helpless, helpless, helpless_... Ben shook his head, and crawled into his own 'bed'. When everyone was set, and silence was cast in the room, a small voice echoed around.

“Hey, Benny ?” Klaus's voice was weak, hesitant, wobbly.

“Yeah ?” He could hear his other siblings tense up around him.

“Everyone... They were all gentle with me, soo... Don't- Don't be mad okay ?”

“They weren't, you idiot,” he answered, trying not to cry. He couldn't help the shaking in his voice though. “You're covered in bruises and your ass is bleeding. You're a disaster.” He wiped the tears off his cheeks, and swallowed the lump in his throat. “I'm not mad, silly, I'm worried.”

“Okay... Are you disappointed ?” He whispered desperately.

“No.” And he truly wasn't. “I'm just sorry I can't do more to help you with... Everything.” Klaus hummed, unsure, but didn't say anything else. Then he started snoring lightly, the way he always did when he was drunk ; Peacefully.

 

“So... So he wasn't a drug dealer...” Luther choked, desperate to be contradicted.

“No, he wasn't.”

“Why did he... Why didn't he ask for help back then ?” Allison asked. Ben wasn't surprised. Their siblings were themselves after all.

“Would you have listened ? Would you have cared ?” He wasn't angry when he said that. Just exhausted.

“Yeah, of course !” Diego defended himself.

“Would you have let him get high ? Or drunk ?”

“What ?” Vanya whispered, confused.

“He needs it. It fucking tears me apart to say it. But he needs the drugs to hold on to his sanity. Because the ghosts never shut up, they scream in his face all day, every day, and he can't silence them any other way than by getting high or drunk or both. Would you have let him ?”

“I... I don't know,” Allison whispered. Everyone could hear Five crying. Nobody commented on it.

 


	10. And now what ?

At breakfast, none of their siblings spoke a word, none of them even dared looking up from their plates. And Klaus was happily ranting about the dress he'd seen in the window of a store, about the black nail polish he thought about buying, and the much needed waffle iron he wanted to get for everyone. And Ben smiled at his enthusiasm, told him he couldn't wait for the waffles to flow down, that forest green suited his nails better than black, asked how short that dress was.

“You're such a mom,” he said, rolling his eyes. Ben couldn't help but glance at the bruise on his neck from time to time, green and purple and hand-shaped, but then he'd refocus on Klaus' eyes, lit with an energy that had been gone for days now.

“Why don't you come with us today ?” Diego asked when they were finished eating. Klaus looked at him, and it was so painfully obvious Diego was struggling to maintain eye contact. “Y'know, rake some leaves, cut some grass, might take your mind off of- of- of-...” He didn't finish his sentence, and prefered to wave around vaguely.

“Yeah, it's a good idea, right ?” Allison pursued. “It's really peaceful, and...” We could keep an eye on you, she didn't say.

“I don't know,” Klaus dismissed, “I've got a wicked hangover and...”

“Come on, Klaus, let's do this,” Ben interrupted. Klaus mumbled, but he was on board, of course. He wanted nothing more but spend time with his siblings.

“Can I wear my heels ?”

 

He did wear his heels, and his make up, and his skirt. The people of the suburbs didn't comment, but sometimes Ben caught them doing a double-take, brows furrowed, expressions confused. And of course Klaus couldn't last the day in his high heels. So Ben took out Klaus' pair of academy's walking shoes from his bag. And when the heat made Klaus sweat away his mascara, he gave him the make-up remover he'd taken. And when Klaus' hangover pounded in his head, Ben gave him the bottle of juice he'd prepared.

But when the neighbour turned his motorized lawnmower on, Ben could do nothing but shush and hold the boy. Klaus laid on the ground, his arms envelloping his head, screaming for Dave and cursing at the Viet Cong. Allison went to the man, and talked him out of his mowing duty for a while. Ben stayed with Klaus under the shadow of a tree, and Diego and Allison finished cleaning the car they were working on. And then they had to leave, because the neighbour started getting impatient, and Klaus had trouble calming down.

 

They walked back slowly, Klaus having decided to put his heels back on. He had calmed down eventually, and trailed in front of the others, eyes darting from shop window to shop window. Allison and Diego hadn't said a word to or about Klaus all day. Ben will have to do something about it, he sighed.

Klaus stopped in front of a clothe store long enough for his siblings to join him.

“Doesn't she remind you of Dolores ?” He pointed at the mannequin in the window ; she was looking at the sky. And she did look like Dolores very much. “Do you think Five would be happy to see her ?”

“I don't know if it would be a good idea,” Diego answered.

“Oh come on, the old man has been holing himself up at home, doesn't he deserve a little distraction ?” Klaus wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Ew, Klaus, that's disgusting, it's a mannequin.” Allison's face scrunched in disgust.

“No it's not, She's his wife, you know ? Maybe we could steal her ?”

 

They debated over the pros and cons of stealing Dolores when the worst thing that could have happened happened.

“Hey there, kiddos !” Ben's blood froze at the sound of Damien's voice. And Klaus... He had turned into a statue. A shivering statue. Ben turned around and stepped in front of him. _They_ wriggled, sneered, and begged to be left out. Not yet.

“What do you want ?” _They_ spat out, _Their_ voice seeping out from his mouth. Damien ticked, but his monstrous smile spread out once more.

“Just wanna know what four cute kids like you were doing out there, all alone...” He trailed. Ben heard the threat, and stabbed the inside of his hands with his own nails. _Let's kill him !_ No. They could still avoid it.

“None of your business,” he said, his voice sharp and cold. Damien hummed, his eyes trailing above Ben's short frame.

“And who's that lovely sissy-boy over there ?” _That's it. Kill him_ ! _They_ felt Diego's hand on _Their_ stomach, equally trembling, equally tense.

“Shut the fu- fuck up and leave.” Diego's voice betrayed the fear welling up inside him. Damien's gaze fell on Diego, undressing him with his eyes alone.

“I like fighty kids like you.” His tone was pure honey. Poisoned, radioactive honey.

“I heard a rumor you bashed your head on that fire hydrant until you fainted.” Allison had no time to fuck around. She exhuded venom and fire. And Damien obeyed, wide-eyed and confused. He hurled his head on the red metal. And again. And again. He lost his balance, fell a knee on the ground, faltered a second. And again. They didn't wait around any longer, and fucked right off.

 

Ben was dragging Klaus by the wrist, and they stopped running only when the door to the boiler room was securely closed behind them. Luther and Vanya were there, catching an afternoon break. This time, Five looked up from his documents, coffee in hand.

“Back already ?” The four of them slid down the door and caught their breaths, minds a whirlwind of 'fuck, fuck, fuck !'.

“We ran into Dolores,” Ben gasped between breaths, because he wasn't ready to say more right now.

“Ho ?” He perked right up, frowning over his cup of coffee. “Did she put you in that state ?”

“No, that was...” Diego started, but he couldn't bring himself to say more.

“Damien,” Allison spat.

 

Ben turned around to check on Klaus, curled up on himself and zoned out, hands on his ears and a silent litany on his lips.

“Klaus ?” He said gently, putting a hand on his cold and clammy cheek. The green eyes turned to him, barely registering his presence. A faint glow made Klaus' hands shimmer soft blue. Ben didn't even flinch when he first heard the scream. Unlike everyone else around him.

“What the hell was that ?” Diego looked around, distraught.

“Klaus,” Ben whispered again, ignoring the piercing howl of the ghost on his right. “It's alright, just ignore them.” The others were running wild behind him, screaming over the specters. At the specters. At ? And then it hit him. He couldn't be seeing them, hearing them. He was alive, right ? The others couldn't be seeing them. What the hell ? “Klaus ?” He repeated, panicking a little now. He looked around, carefully avoiding the ghosts' gazes. There were nine, just like Klaus had said, angry, screaming ghosts, dismembered and bloody and rotting. “Don't look !” He screamed at his siblings because they didn't know. “It'll be worse if you look !” He couldn't explain, couldn't risk being more precise, or else the spirits would catch on.

“What the fuck is that ?” Luther screamed above the ghosts.

“Klaus is doing something with his powers !” He replied, before turning back to Klaus. “Hey, buddy, it's alright, we're safe now, we're home. You can relax.” But Klaus didn't hear him, still lost somewhere out of his own mind.

“Are- Are they supposed to...” Vanya screamed, hands on her ears, eyes white and wide. “To be able to touch us ?”

“What ? No !” Ben's eyes darted around the room, and the ghosts were clearly advancing toward his siblings. A crispy looking, half rotten hand extended and touched Five's cheek.

“ _Killer_ !” Whined the ghost of a pregnant woman. “ _Monster_!” The Boy's eyes widened in horror.

“I... I did... What I had to... To...” he whimpered, and then he was gone in a flash of blue.

“Klaus, Klaus, come on buddy, come back to me, yeah ?” He was shaking the still body, gently at first, but when Luther got scratched, he shook a bit more frantically. Fuck. The ghosts were coming over there now. Allison, all courage gone, was sobbing against the wall, and crawled away when the ghosts closed in. Diego threw one, two, three knives, that all went straight through the spirits' heads, and then he slumped on the ground and curled up on himself, eyes wide and frightened.

“ _Klaus_ !” The ghosts screamed as they converged over them. “ _Klaus_ !”

 

Okay. Fuck. He had no choice now. He inhaled, considered other options for a second, but he couldn't think of anything. He didn't want to do that.

“I'm sorry, Klaus.” He closed his eyes, and then with a british accent and a condescending tone, he shouted.

“Number Four !” And Klaus jolted out of his transe, confused and scared of his father's temper. As his hands stopped glowing, he looked at Ben, and got even more confused. Behind them, things fell to the floor as Vanya's powers subsided.

“Be- Benny ? Where... ?” He squeaked out. He looked around, winced at the ghosts over him, and then slumped down much like Diego had done.

“It's okay,” Ben shushed, patting his head gently. “We're home, we're safe.”

“There was Damien...” He shivered, his eyes glancing around the room once more.

“Allison took care of him. It's okay.” Ben got up, and extended his hand to Klaus. “Come on, let's get a hot chocolate.”

 


	11. Those things he'd rather not talk about

No one moved for a long while, too occupied to remember how to breath. Gently, Ben nudged them in the middle of the room, and heated up water in a pan they'd found in the streets. They'd bought powdered milk and chocolate, tea and lyophilized coffee. It was easier to be able to simply need hot water for everyone's prefered beverage. Cheaper and more durable too. Five minutes went by in utter silence, save for the shaky breaths everyone tried to subdue, and the barely audible whimpers coming from Klaus. The ghosts must be over agitated after what happened.

Ben had prepared each cup to his siblings' liking, and soon, they all nursed a hot chocolate or a steaming green tea in their newly bought mugs. Klaus' was bright and yellow. He was still shaking a bit, flinching and making faces at the ghosts only he could see now, but he seemed okay... No, safe.  
Then Ben noticed something missing. Someone missing. Five. He remembered the horror in his brother's eyes before he disappeared under that ghost's touch, and a bad feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.  
 “Klaus, you okay ?” He asked him, a hand on his forearm. Klaus turned his confused gaze at him, tilting his head to the side. “I'm worried about Five, can I leave you with the others while I go take a look around ?” Slowly, Klaus nodded.  
 “Yeah, sure,” he said weakly, a small smile wobbling on his features. He hated the idea of leaving his side after everything that happened that day. But the others looked as shaken and lost as Klaus, and he was the only one left standing apparently.  
  
Once out of the building, he didn't really know where to look, but he didn't have to think too long. A quiet sobbing came from the alley way. Five sat there, against the wall, his head between his knees, arms secure around his legs.  Ben sat next to him, leaving a space between them. Five was still a bit jumpy with the whole touching thing. Ben didn't say anything, opting instead to look at the dumpster ahead.  
 “Does he see her... Them all the time ? Like that ?” Five hadn't moved. There was relief in his voice. Maybe for Ben's respect of his space.  
 “Yeah,” he sighed, tilting his head away from his brother. When Five didn't say anything more, Ben decided to try his luck. “May I ask who she was ?” He had carefully modulated his voice, a delicate balance of tact, softness and nonchalance. A little bit to the left, and Five would stiffen and close up like a clam. It took a while. Neither of them moved at all.  
 “A target.” He finally dropped, swallowing hard. “Her... Disappearance was supposed to bring Hitler's maternal grandparents together. The commision only sent their best killers to take care of anything related to world war two.” His body jolted up and down as he shuckled, humorless.  
 “So you killed a pregnant woman to ensure Hitler would be born. Tough,” Ben winced.  
 “I did what I had to do.” He wasn't defending himself like he usually did on this matter. He was just stating a fact. Ben almost apologized. If it hadn't been for the decade and a half glued to Klaus and his unrelenting disgust for pity, he would have. They stayed silent for a little longer.  
 “What do say we go get a cup of coffee ?”  
 “Sounds good, yeah,” Five said, emerging from between his knees at last.  
  
They came back in to the sound of light conversation.  
 “... And he said he thought he knew me from somewhere,” Allison said, “like he wasn't sure.” The others laughed softly, shock still stunting the athmosphere. They all looked up to see Ben and Five come in. They smiled and waved. But Ben frowned ; They all needed to have a long, painful conversation. He forced Five to sit down in the circle of siblings, assuring him he knew how to make coffee, thank you. There was left over hot water, so Ben simply added a spoon of coffee powder and stirred absent-mindedly in Five's green mug.  
After handing Five his coffee, Ben finally took his place in the circle, wedged between Klaus and Vanya.  
 “I think we need to have a conversation,” Ben said to break the silence.  
 “What happened, exactly ?” Luther blurted out. Three scratch marks redened his right cheek, a few droplets pearling through the skin where the scratches were the deepest. His hot chocolate was on the floor next to him, and he was tightly hugging himself. Ben glanced at Klaus, still confused.  
 “Klaus' powers manifested the... Those nine,” he waved his hand.  
 “I did what ?” Klaus exclamed softly. “Really ?”  
 “You mean the ghosts ?” Diego said.  
 “SSHHHut the fuck up !” Ben hissed, shoving his index on his brother's mouth. Diego swatted away the hand, frowned and opened his mouth to defend himself, but Ben didn't let him. “If you talk about it, they'll hear you and get angrier !” Then he turned to Klaus, his tone softening down. “Yeah, really, just like you manifested me in the theatre.” He wiggled his fingers in Klaus' face. “Your hands were blue.”  
 “How did you do that ?” Allison asked.  
 “Why did you do that ?” Five asked at the same time. Klaus looked at them, dumbfounded.  
 “I... I don't know ?”  
 “How can you not know ?” Five snapped. _They_ got angry, but Ben understood his brother's anger. It wasn't anger at all, it was fear.  
 “He was dissociating, Five, he wasn't really there.” Putting a hand up in front of him, Ben didn't let anyone interrupt him. “And as for 'how', listen... Klaus hasn't spent a day sober in fifteen years, so his powers are pretty much uncharted territory right now.”  
 “Well,” Five stammered, a shiver shooting through his body, “Don't it again.” He looked up to his siblings' disapproving looks. “Please,” He added for good measure.  
 “I'm sorry I spooked you, Fivey,” Klaus said with a bit too much sweetness for Five's taste. And sure enough...  
 “Shut it Klaus, it's...” he angrily started, “It's fine,” he concluded with more softness than he'd gotten them used to.  
 “What do you mean by they'll get angrier ?” Vanya asked, curious and anxious. Her tea was still steaming a little, craddled in her hands.  
 “Oh, I know that one !” Klaus chimed. “You see, the more you talk about it... No, that's not it. The more I think about them,  the stronger they get. Soo...” He said, casting a worried glance around the room, “Maybe we should talk about something else now.” He winced and redirected his attention to his hot chocolate, observing it like it held a secret. Sitting in front of Ben, Luther was strangely quiet. He observed and listened, for once.  
 “Are- Are- Are they still here ?” Diego looked around too, like he would see something.  
 “They're always here, didn't you listen ?” Ben snapped.  
 “Are they still screaming ?” Allison whispered. Klaus hummed and took a sip of his chocolate.  
 “Yeah, yeah,” he said. “Please can we talk about something else ? They're... They're getting really loud now.”  
 “No but...”  Diego started. Klaus put a hand on his temple and closed his eyes under the effects of a migraine, probably.  
 “Shut up, shut up, shut up !” he exhaled, tears on the edge of his voice. And then like coming from the other end of a tunnel, the screeching voice of an old woman echoed in the center of their circle. As the blue light envelloped Klaus' hands once more, the decrepit figure of a crumbling harpy dressed in rags appeared in the middle of their circle. Everyone slid away from the screaming figure gasping in horror. Ben squeezed his brother's hand harder.  
  _"Klaus ! Why can't you help me ? You useless excuse for a man ! You can't even do a simple thing like that ? How dare you call yourself a..."_  
 "Shut up !" Klaus cried on top of his lungs, "Shut the fuck up !" And before Ben could do anything, not that he had any idea what to do, Luther saved the day.  
 "What did you do last night ?" He exclaimed, surprised by his own voice. The old hag dissipated, and Klaus looked at him, his hands losing their blue shimmer.  
 "What ?"


	12. The thing about Them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might have to slow down on the writing this week.

“Well, what is there to say, really ? I made us some money.”

“You know what I mean.” Klaus shielded himself from the old hag's gaze with a hand on his forehead.

“What is it ?” he started, “Do you want to hear the details ?” He said with malice, but Ben could still hear the faint tremor of fear underneath it.

“I... I mean... Huh...”

“Relax, I'm just messing with you, buddy, it's alright. I got drunk, I fucked some guys, they gave me money,” he shrugged, like it wasn't a big deal. And for him, it trully wasn't. “End of story.”

“But- But- But Ben told you don't have to do that anymore, we're...” Diego said.

“Yeah, yeah ! Well, you know, it be like that sometimes, am I right ? I'm my own person, and now that Ben's alive, he doesn't have to waste his time with me anymore.”

 

Huh.

 

Ben was vaguely aware that everyone was staring at him. But blood rushed in his ears and his mind was blank.

 _'Say something'_. There was nothing to say to that.

' _Do something !'_ His body wouldn't move.

' _Grab Klaus ! Show him We care !'_ He turned his head toward Klaus, but didn't really see him.

' _We'll do it then !'_

“Ben ?” Vanya's soft voice somehow grabbed his attention. _They_ sneered and growled, but eventually subsided a bit.

“Hum ? Yeah ?” He managed to say.

“You alright ?”

_'We're not ! Tell him We care ! Tell him !'_

“Yeah, I'm fine.”

_'NO !'_

“Klaus,” Allison said, “You can't go around and... Do this and expect us not to care.”

“Well, _I_ don't care, why do you anyway ? As long as it's just me and not you guys...”

 

“Shut. Up.” They said. They had taken the driver's seat, because the other _Them_ was useless. They hadn't really thought it through though.They had never been in command. Klaus was looking at Them directly ! They didn't know how to express what They wanted Klaus to know.

“You. Are. Not...” They started. It looked easier from the backseat. It looked easier in theory. “We. Care !”

“Ben ?” Klaus frowned. He was upset ? He was scared ?

 _'He's curious,'_ the other _Them_ provided. _'You talk weird. You move weird.'_ Well, They weren't used to do it.

“We. Care.” They repeated, more adament. “You. Are. Not. 'Just. You'.”

“Are- Are- Are- Are you- You-... _Them_ ?” Diego asked.

 _'_ He _is scared.'_

“Yes.” They tried to move. The body was wrong. Some fingers moved. “We. Are. Them.”

“Where's... Where's Ben?” Luther asked.

 _'And_ he _is worried.'_

“We. Are. Ben.” They defended.

_'You know what he means.'_

“With. Us.” They said. “Behind.” They succeeded in moving a hand up to the side of the head. They showed the head with a finger.

_'Wrong finger.'_

The siblings looked at Them weird.

 _'They don't know how to react. Give me back the front seat.'_ No. Not before They reassured Klaus. They turned to him.

“Don't. Push. Us. Away. From. You.” They said, trying to touch him with the hand. They put the hand down on his. It was weird. There were sensations.

 _'Warm and soft ?_ The other _Them_ suggested. Yes. They tried a smile ; Showed the teeth. Curled the lips, like a snarl but without the sound.

_'I don't even see it, but I'm still terrified.'_

“Hum, what...” Klaus started, but then he winced. He flailed a hand in front of his face. Trying to get rid of a ghost. “Fuck off, old woman !” Then he flinched backward, crawled away, screaming, protecting his face. Terrified ?

They hated the ghosts ! They couldn't protect Klaus ! Klaus' hands glowed blue again. Ghosts appeared around the room.

“Shit !” Five exclaimed. The old woman ghost screamed and scratched Klaus. She scratched him ! He was bleeding ! They saw red, tried to move the body, tried to protect Klaus, tried to tear the ghosts apart ! But the body won't move.

Then They'll use Their other body. The one They knew. They took out many tentacles.

“Holy fucking christ !” A few siblings screamed. They used a few tentacles to move closer to Klaus, pushing the small body up from the floor. They used another and swaddled Klaus with it. And then They unfolded the others, engulfing the whole room, and seized every ghost.

They screamed with Their other voice, the one that scared Father. They screeched louder than the spirits, and they were terrified. The ghosts were trying to escape Them, but They weren't letting them go. And while They roared and the ghosts squirmed against Their hold, They squeezed and tore them apart and they turned into smoke and they were gone. They stopped roaring. The room fell silent. They drew a breath. The body was hurting where the tentacles came out. The body was heavy.

 _'We're exhausted. Will you give me back control now ?'_ Not yet. They retracted the tentacles. They wanted to reach Klaus, but without the tentacles, They couldn't move. They wanted to touch Klaus again. One more time before They gave back the body.

 _'Alright, let me at least help you move.'_ So They let _Him_ move the body up to Klaus. _He_ hugged Klaus, and then gave back the body. It was a nice feeling. Warm and soft.

“It's. Quiet. Yes ?” They whispered, only for Klaus.

“Yes.” He breathed out. “Thank you so much.”

“We. Will. Always. Protect. You.” They said. And the face became wet. And the throat became tight.

 _'We're crying.'_ Klaus was crying too. They could hear the others crying as well. They felt really heavy now. Exhausted, _He_ said. They gave back the body.

 

When _They_ gave away control, Ben felt the exhaustion surging through his whole body.

“Wow. That was a fucking trip,” he said.

 

And then fade to black.

 


	13. The aftermaths of possession

So, apparently, having one's body directly controled by the extra-dimensional beast living in one's stomach was not something that could be done without consequences. Especially when said beast had no idea on how to move said body or how to deal with mucle tension.

Ben woke up slowly. Every inch of him was sore. It even hurt when he breathed. The migraine he nursed upon regaining enough senses to remember where he was dissuaded him to move just yet. The voices in the room were soft, but the grating of a spoon stirring against a metal pan didn't help. Then he felt the warm sensation of someone against him. Opening his eyes revealed to be a fight against his own eyelids, and when he succeeded, everything was a blur.

“Hey Ben, you're awake.” It took a few seconds to process what Klaus had just said. He grunted in answer, not ready yet to form words. “Well, that's good. Could you maybe hug me a little less violently ? Because it's kind of starting to hurt.” So that explained what his eyes had finally focused on ; Klaus' shoulder. He didn't answer, instead tried to loosen his hold. For a second, he seemed to have forgotten how to use his muscles. But when he did, the haze fogging his mind dissipated. He rolled over, and landed against the edge of the platform, right next to Klaus.

“Ow, shouldn't have done that,” Ben whined, all his muscles sreaming against that sudden movement. He tried to push himself a bit more upright against the wall, but his legs wobbled and his arms trembled. How did _They_ manage to do that to his body in such a short time ? He tried to move up again, but gave up and went limp when something in his neck felt like he'd been stabbed.

“What's wrong ?” Klaus asked, concerned. He felt like he ran three marathons back to back. He also felt like something else.

“I feel like I just had personal training with Father, but a thousand times worse.” Luther was at the stove and had stopped stirring some time ago to look at him. Diego and Vanya sat in the middle of the room, with respectively a knife and a book in hand. Allison and Five were nowhere in sight.

“Weird, you- _They_ didn't do much, though ?” Klaus said.

“Yeah, but... I don't think _They_ grasp the concept of muscle strain.” Then Ben remembered what _They_ had done to the ghosts, so he turned to Klaus, wincing from the pain. “Are they still gone ?” He didn't need to be more precise with Klaus.

“Nah, they came back as soon as you blacked out. But those were peaceful twenty seconds.”

“Fuck. Sorry.” Klaus dismissed his apology with a hand.

“Don't. Please.” They stayed silent for a while, and Ben's eyes drifted shut to the sound of Diego sharpening his knives.

 

“Hey, I was thinking,” Klaus said, jerking Ben awake. “If _Them_ become, you know, more...” He waved around, effectivelly expressing the vague nature of his own thoughts. “I mean, we can't keep calling _Them_ just _Them_ , you know ? It feels a bit rude, when _They_ can actually, like, do stuff and communicate, and...” He interrupted himself. “You know what I mean, yeah ?”

“You want to give _Them_ a name ?” Despite the pain shooting throughout his body, Ben couldn't help but snicker. He had to close his eyes, the pain throbbing in his head again.

“Yeah ! I mean, no, you should do it, or maybe _They_ have a name _They_ like ?”

“But _They_ 're me. I guess _They_ 're also called Ben ?” Klaus hummed in frustration.

“We can't just call You both Ben, how will we know who we're talking about ? I mean, you say They're you, what does that mean ? Because it seems You still have your own separate thoughts, so how does that work anyway ?”

“Huh, it's like... The more We think alike, the more... One We are ?” There was a long pause. Ben almost opened his eyes again, but Klaus spoke before that.

“So you mean, you... You didn't think like Them back there ?” His voice was soft, his tone riddled with sadness.

“No, it's not- It's not like that,” Ben sighed. “What you said about wasting my time with you, I...” He gulped down the pain he'd felt, or else he wouldn't be able to speak anymore. “I couldn't say anything, and _They_ wanted to tell you that We care, but I was frozen, so _They_ took the reins.” He rushed to finish what he had to say before his throat closed up again. It was silent again for a while.

“I broke you,” Klaus whispered, giggling.

“And you're proud of yourself,” Ben answered, his voice acidic.

“... I'm sorry, Benny.”

“I do care about you, Klaus, don't doubt that for a second.”

“Okay.” Klaus shuffled next to him. Ben let the silence lull him to sleep once again. “So what should we call _Them_ ?”

“For fuck's sake, Klaus,” Diego said suddenly, “How long are you gonna speak about that ?”

“Until we find _Them_ a proper name.” Ben couldn't help a giggle, regretting it immediately when his whole torso itched. “What do _They_ think ?”

_'Ben'_

“ _They_ 're called Ben.”

“Yeaaaah, but it's boriiiing-uh !” Klaus whined, and Ben could swear he _heard_ him roll his eyes in exasperation.

“You already thought of a name, didn't you, you little drama queen ? Come on, shoot.”

“Jamin !” He exclamed, clapping his hands in excitement.

“What bullshit name is that ?” Diego couldn't help but say.

“It's not bullshit ! Don't you get it ? Ben and Jamin ? Come on ! It's hilarious !” Vanya and Luther groaned, Diego sighed a “Jesus...” And Ben couldn't hold a shuckle that made his chest hurt.

“Do _They_ like it ?” Ben waited for _Their_ reaction. He could feel... Confusion ?

“ _They_ didn't get it yet.”

“Well, explain it to _Them_ then !”

“Nah, _They_ 'll get it eventually.”

Five and Allison came back right as Luther prepared everyone's plates of pasta.

“I took your shift, Ben, and I expect retribution,” Five said, taking the two brooms he held to their designated corner, next to the cumulus.

At first, Ben didn't feel like moving an inch to eat, but as the smell of beef wafted to him, he became aware of the painful empty pit in his stomach. He took the plate Luther was handing to him slowly, each muscle feeling like lead. He ate as if he hadn't eaten in weeks, and didn't remember falling asleep afterward, but he did remember being hoisted up and put down in his sleeping bag.

 

The next morning, still sore and stiff, Ben sat up in agony and felt barely conscious while he admired the smoke from his mug of chocolate twirling in front of him.

 

What woke him up that morning was the brief but forceful knock at the door.

 


	14. Something about a murder

They all jumped into position. Diego's knives appeared in his hands, Luther went toward the door and Five jumped in front of him, ready to open up, leaving Luther free to fight whoever was behind the door. Klaus and Vanya retreated into the far corner of the room, and Ben got up slowly, his legs aching under the strain of his weight. Allison, already in earshot of whoever was outside, tensed up and got ready to fight.

Just as Luther nodded at Five to open up, A loud voice announced the identity of the newcomer.

“Police, open up !” They all turned to each other, eyes wide and confused, then Luther gestured at Diego to hide his knives, and at Five to open the door.

From where he was, Ben couldn't see or hear the man. But Luther's stance shifted ever so slightly, his shoulders relaxing a little.

“Yes ?” He asked, still on the defensive. Ben couldn't hear the other side of the conversation. “Could you show your badge ?” Pause. “It's just us, why ?” As the other answered, Luther looked around, and then stepped back.

A man in his thirties stepped in, took a suspicious look around, then a curious frown fell on his face. He wore a trenchcoat and heavy glasses, and a long scar ran across his left eye, leaving it shut. Diego was staring at the newcommer like he knew him from somewhere. Maybe he did, he'd tried to be a policeman after all. When the detective's gaze settled on Klaus and Vanya, still huddled together in the corner, he carefully crushed his cigarette under the heel of his shoe.

“Any adults around here ? Why do you live here anyway ?” He talked like an adult confronted by seven baffled little orphans ; Which, in all fairness, they looked like.

“Depends, why are you here ?” Diego asked with confidence. The detective turned to look at him, a smirk painting his traits.

“Well, straight to the point then.” He had his hands in his pocket, and his eye darted around the room, no doubt taking in every detail of how they lived. “Very well. I'm here about the death of Damien Wentworth. Rings any bell ?” What could he see when he swept the room with his one eyed glare ? Guilt ? Fear ? Relief ?

“How...” Allison cleared her throat. “How did he die ?” Her question ended in a whisper.

“So you did know him.” Diego's death stare would have killed if it could. But Allison didn't pay him any attention. She wasn't even breathing. “Someone bashed his brains in with a crowbar while he was passed out next to a bloody fire hydrant. Crazy story.” Allison let out a breath, her shoulders untensing. The detective walked up to the sink, full with carton plates and plastic forks and knives. They really should buy some cutlery next. “What's even crazier, though...” He whipped around, looked at Ben for a second, and then turned back to Allison. “Five different witnesses placed four scrawny little kids at the scene. One moment the victim was talking to them, the next he was bashing his own head into the fire hydrant.” He turned to look at Klaus, right in the eyes, and then down at his short, hot-red skirt. “And one of the kids, a boy no less, was wearing some flamboyant red skirt and high heels.” He was too close to Klaus. Ben took a step toward them. “Imagine that,” The detective sneered, and then stepped back as Klaus flinched away from him.

“I heard a rumor,” Allison commanded. She held her head high as the detective, and everyone else turned to her. “I heard a rumor you'll believe everything I'll say during the next hour.” Luther looked confused, but Five smiled with a malice that only a fifty eight year old assassin could whip up. No thirteen year old's face should be seen with that smile. The detective hadn't reacted.

“I might believe you if you're convincing enough, little lady,” he said, confident. But he was done for. Five didn't pay him attention as he approached. Well, he was still ready to kill him if he moved the wrong way, but he had that faraway look on his face, the one that told every sibling he was calculating the probabilities of upcoming events turning in his favor.

They all moved closer to him, save for Klaus and Vanya. Ben went to their sides, less interested in being part of the smoldering force of their siblings, and more in Klaus' well being. Damien was dead. What a fucking relief ! But _They_ both hoped Klaus thought the same.

“You okay ?” He whispered to him, looking for any clue into his psyche. Klaus turned to him, and his eyes filled up with tears, his lips trembling a little. He had loved Damien. And despite everything he'd done to him, Klaus couldn't just stop loving him. Or anyone he had fallen in love with, really. Ben took him in his arms to let him cry, and set his attention back on the detective.

“And then a witness comes forth and announces he's seen those kids running around those parts. So my question is,” he said, still confident, “What do you know about Damien Wentworth's killer ?”

“Nothing,” Allison said, “He came to talk to us, and he was saying really scary stuff, you know ? And then he suddenly stopped talking, and he started to hurt his head on the fire hydrant, and there was blood, and he had already scared us, you know ? So we ran away.” And of course he believed her.

“What scary stuff did he tell you ?” His tone had considerably softened, his stance shifting from garded to relaxed.

“Well... I think he was a pedophile,” her voice trembled so convincingly, even Ben wanted to go and confort her. And he knew she wasn't a kid. “I think he wanted to do bad things to us,” she whispered, a tear in her eye. “Maybe... Maybe someone heard him say those things ?” The detective was writing everything down, more and more unconfortable.

“Alright, alright... That's enough for my investigation.” He turned around on his heels, looked at all of them, glanced at the big cumulus in the corner of the room and then at the sleeping bags in a pile on the floor. “So why are you living here on your own again ?”

“We don't live here,” Allison said with the confidence of someone used to being believed unconditionally. “Our parents are friends with someone at the boxing club, so we're hanging around after school.” There were so much holes in this story, that swiss cheese would be jealous. But the poor detective could do nothing but believe it. He frowned, clearly trying to fight Allison's hold on his mind.

“Okay.” He looked a bit lost, and Ben almost felt sorry for him. “I think I've got everything I need...” He walked toward the door, still looking around. Once at the door, he stopped with his hand on the doorknob, took a last long look, then exited with an unsure “Have a nice day, then.”

But before he closed the door, he came back in suddenly, doubt gone and realisation having replaced it.

“You're the Umbrella Academy kids !”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've passed the moment I intended to stop my story at, so I'm going in a bit blind folded there. But I still have plenty of stuff to write about Klaus and Ben's relationship and homeless knowledge. So ideas are appreciated :)


	15. Bluff

“No, we're not,” she said, and she had the gall to look confused. To that detective's credit, he was fighting really hard against Allison's words. He had probably seen most of their tattoos while looking around. It was a hard sell, really, but Allison's power was just that strong. He apologised, scratching the back of his head, and then left for good.

“I know him,” Diego said a second later. Everyone turned to him, and he shrugged. “Inspector Lupo, I've worked with him on a few gigs.” He looked fond of the memories he replayed in his head.

“Nice guy ?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, one of the good ones.”

“Well.” Luther said. He didn't add anything to this witty commentary.

“You should have been more careful,” Five scolded. He looked at Diego and Allison, arms crossed and head high. “This could get the commission's attention on us, you know ?”

“Yeah, well, you weren't there,” snarled Diego. “That guy Damien, he was an evil son of a bitch.” Ben felt Klaus' grip tighten a little around his waist. “We did what we had to do.”

“Besides,” Ben said, cutting Five's retort short. “If Allison didn't step in, I wouldn't have been able to hold _Them_ back.” Everyone looked at him. He didn't bother analysing their reactions. “You'll probably agree with me that _They_ 'd have been a little more obnoxious than Allison's intervention, right ?” Five scoffed, trailed to his notebooks stacked against the wall, and took one out of the pile.

“I need to think. We need to be prepared next time...” He sat down, and lost himself in his calculations.

 

It wa still too early for Vanya and Luther to go play violin ; They usually waited until at least eleven in the morning, when there were more people in the streets. Allison and Diego went alone in the suburbs today. Ben could barely stand up, and Klaus was exhausted from his consecutive PTSD and panic attacks, and the use of his power, and the whole previous day, really.

“Five ?” Klaus asked from his pile of bags about an hour later, the beginning of a pink scarf flowing down his side. “Five ?” He asked again when he had no answer. “Fiiiiive !” He moaned, throwing his head back like the drama queen he was. Ben saw Five cringe in exasperation.

“What ?” He whipped his head around, his voice acid and ready to kill.

“Would you like to see Dolores again ?” Five's anger melted away like an ice cream in the sun. But he turned away, and back into his notebooks.

“Why would I want that ?” He wasn't convincing anyone with his unconcerned tone.

“Huh, because she's your wife and you haven't seen her in a while, and you must miss her ?” Klaus asked as if it made perfect sense. It would, actually, but Ben had mixed feelings about Dolores the mannequin. Maybe Five returning her to her store the first time around had been a sign he wanted to move on too. “I'm sure she misses you too.”

“Klaus, she's... She's just a... She's...” The rest of Five's words died down in his throat. He looked like he just killed a puppy, or betrayed his life-long partner, maybe. He furiously wiped a tear off his cheek. “She's probably happier with her friends, anyway.” Okay, so maybe Ben should revise his feelings about Dolores. She clearly meant the world to his brother.

“I bet you she isn't. I bet she's worried about you.” Klaus got up with sluggish movements, and extended a hand to Five. “Come on, let's go steal her, yeah ?”

“Klaus...” Vanya started, but she was interrupted.

 

A knock at the door, brief but forceful. Five and Luther were on their feet in a flash. But this time, the door opened on it's own. Inspector Lupo barged in with his gun pointed at them.

“What did you do to me, freaks ?” He exclaimed, fear in his words. He pointed his gun around the five of them, and Ben had instinctively jumped in front of Klaus, ignoring his screaming muscles and _Their_ anger welling up inside. “Why did I believe you back there ?” He cocked his gun when he received no answer, but that was the end of it. Five appeared in front of him, ripped his gun away from him while his brain computed what he'd just seen. Then Five reappeared behind him, kicked him to the ground, and closed the door, before plopping down on his back and immobiling his arms like he had done with Ben a couple days ago. But now the pen was a gun, and Five was calm and cold.

“You shouldn't have threatened my siblings, inspector.” Lupo tried to shake his assailant, but to no avail. He grunted in defeat, eyeing his own gun bitterly. When Luther approached, Five got up, and posted himself in front of the door, gun ready to bolt up whenever. The inspector got up with his back against the wall, his eyes on Five. He dusted his trenchcoat nervously, then Five gestured him to move along with a wave of the gun. That weapon seemed huge in Five's hands, almost comical, and Ben almost flashed a smile. The inspector went to the middle of the room with dignity, where Five made him sit down on the ground.

“So you are the Umbrella Academy kids. How did you make me think you weren't ?” He didn't need anyone's answer, because he waved dissmissively. “Oh right, the brown girl, right ?” He looked around, probably looking for Allison. “She isn't here anymore.” Luther and Five weren't paying him attention.

“Did her power fail or something ?” Luther asked Five. “It never happened before.”

“No, wait, what did she say exactly ? 'You'll belive everything I say for the next hour' ? He did believe everything she said. For an hour.” Luther frowned and shook his head.

“No, no no, that's not how it works, she told me once, it's not the wording of the phrase, it's her intention that counts.”

“Yeah, well, and yet here we are.”

“So...” Vanya said, sitting on the sink, a respectable distance away from the inspector. “What do we do about him ?”

“Yeah, what do we do about me ?” Lupo repeated, fake confidence masking his fear. Five considered him.

“Maybe we should tell him the truth,” he said finally. “We might need friends in the police department. And Diego said he's a good guy, right ?”

“What truth do you want to tell him exactly ?” Ben asked.

“The whole deal.” He shrugged.

 


	16. Time to have the talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters are starting to get out of hand, and doing and saying whatever they want. I'm not in charge anymore, they have taken control. Soon, there'll rise against me and rebel. Hide the children. Prepare for a siege.

“So, the apocalypse is supposed to happen in seventeen years, you're all thirty, except you who're sixty.” Lupo stayed calm and measured. He got a cigarette out of his pocket, but didn't light it.

“Technically, I died when I was seventeen, so am I really thirty ?” Ben wondered, and Klaus frowned, thinking about it.

“Well...” he started, but Five dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

“Don't complicate things for him,” he said.

“And where does this Temps Commision come from already ?” Lupo asked, cigarette in his mouth. He got his lighter out, but stopped himself at the last second. He put the lighter back in his pocket, and twirled the cigarette between his fingers, frowning really hard at Five's explanations.

“I don't know the details of their existence, but the gist of it is that they keep the timeline in check, and make sure it goes in the right direction.” Lupo put the cigarette back in his mouth, and Ben heard Klaus grunt next to him.

“How do they know where the timeline's supposed to be going ? Why do they care anyway ? Isn't it going the way it's supposed to go on it's own ?” He was ready to light his smoke now, the flame of the lighter hovering two centimeters away from the tip of the cigarette.

“I don't know inspector, I was just a henchman, didn't quiete have the necessary clearance to access confidential archives.” Lupo didn't light his cigarette, and Klaus snapped.

“For Christ's sake, do or do not, there is no try !” He ripped both the lighter and the cigarette from the man's hand and mouth, put the latter between his lips, and lit it. He took one puff of it before Ben could slap it out of his mouth.

“Hey !” He exclaimed in outrage, raising his hands up in the hair.

“You're thirteen again, asshat, no cigarettes for you yet.” Klaus sighed and threw the lighter at Lupo who caught it easily.

“I'm not allowed to do anything ! You know I'm already going cold turkey, right ? I'm struggling man, let me at least smoke a damn cigarette !”

“I remember someone coming back plastered not two nights ago ?” Ben answered, calm and measured. Klaus sighed again, and went to his pile of bags, where he dropped down dramatically. Ben crushed the cigarette under his heel while looking Klaus in the eye, just to make a point, and his brother then proceeded to pout and ignore them while he angrily took up his needles and scarf.

 

Ben knew it wouldn't be long now until Klaus couldn't take it anymore. He could see the restless legs and anxious twitching and the bags under his eyes. How long since he had really slept, not counting his drunken night ? But damn if he wouldn't keep him clean as long as he could, or admit he was okay with it.

“I'm not an inspector by the way, I'm a detective, kiddo.” Lupo said, breaking the awkward silence that had settled.

“Huh, well congratulations in advance for your futur promotion.”

“What ?” Lupo shook his head, and went back to the apocalypse subject. “So... The commission is looking for you because you want to prevent the apocalypse. That means, they want it to happen ? What's in it for them ?” Five grunted, rolled his eyes, pocketed a hand.

“Because,” he started, frowning in irritation and waving the gun  above his head, “budget cuts,” he finally said after a bit of thinking. There was a pause, a tangible one, that Ben could have cut with a tentacle if he'd tried.

“B-Budget cuts ?” Lupo repeated, flabbergasted. “What the fu~...n ?”

“Yeah, what the fuck ?” Klaus yelled from his spot, not looking up from his scarf. Five raised an eyebrow, sighed again.

“No more people to control, no more employees to pay. Budget cuts.”

“Couldn't they have just... stopped ?” Vanya asked from her spot up on the sink. “How did they come to the conclusion that the apocalypse was the only solution ?”

“I don't have a single fucking clue, okay ?” Five snapped. “They're crazy, is that enough of a reason for you ?” Lupo stayed silent for a moment, then shook his head, arms crossed.

“Not a single thing you've said makes any sense. I'm not stupid, kids, you're just trying to fu- mess with my head.”

“Oh, for fuck's sake !” Five exclaimed, hands thrown in the air, and he disappeared. Lupo tried to get up now that the gun wielder was gone. But with a hand on his shoulder, Luther kept him sat down, without so much as breaking a sweat. Luther looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and Lupo stopped struggling, defeated.

 

It wasn't long before Five came back. He wasn't alone ; He'd brought back Diego and Allison with him. The two workers were covered in sweat, their hands were green from grass cutting, and they went white from the sudden spatial jump. Diego threw up in the sink, and Allison sat down slowly, with a dignity only she could pull up. Diego ran the tap on the mess he'd just make, washed his mouth directly under the stream of water, and finally wiped his face with the back of his hand.

“You good now ?” Five asked, irritated. Diego grunted and turned around, holding himself up against the sink.

“Yeah, and what the fuck is that about ?” His gaze settled on Lupo, and he frowned.

“We've told the whole truth to your friend, _detective_ Lupo here, but guess what ? He doesn't believe us.” Five turned to Allison. “Nice job, by the way, your power failed on him.” Allison frowned.

“How ?”

“Well, he believed you for an hour. You know, as opposed to believe you for an hour ? Why did you even put a time frame to your rumor anyway ?”

“Do you know what an indefinite rumor can do to someone's brain ?” She simply answered unequivocally. “I'll save you the trouble of guessing ; It turns the brain into mush, and then there's nothing to salvage from it.” Five growled, but let it go, and went back to Diego.

“How about you prove to your friend that we're from the futur by giving him personnal details only someone who knows him could know about, yeah ?” Five sounded cranky and frustrated. Well, more than usual. It didn't take Ben too long to understand why. He made his way to the sink, put some water to boil, and prepared coffee for his brother.

 


	17. Inevitable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pour le lecteurs français, vous remarquerez sans doute le moment où Ben canalise l'esprit de ce cher Denis Brognard :)

“Your mother Elizabeth made a killer key lime pie, and when you were ten you tried to make one for mother's day. But you had no limes so you made it with grapefruit. It was disgusting but she ate it anyway.” Lupo looked like a fish, grasping for air, opening and closing his mouth without saying anything. Ben handed Five his mug, who barely nodded in surprise, then proceeded to take a long sip. His shoulders untensed significantly.

“How the fu... How do you... Why would I tell you that ?” Diego shrugged.

“We were trapped in a container for the night, and you got a little dramatic.” Lupo took his head in his hands and a long breath. They let him think for a while, grieve for his sanity maybe.

“I... I need some time to... To process everything.” He sounded a bit distressed, and Ben felt sorry for him. A bit. He did threaten them with a gun, earlier. “Can I, huh, go now ?” He asked, looking at Five and the gun in his hand.

“Depends,” Five said, his face peeking behind the coffee smoke. “Will you keep your mouth shut about us ?”

“I'm not sure we should let him go,” Luther said, arms crossed.

“And what do you suggest we do ?” Five answered. “Keep him locked in here until... Until what ?” Luther groaned, but didn't add anything.

 

And just like that, they let the detective go. Well, not just like that, Five went and followed him to his house, 'to know where he lives and keep an eye on him', he'd said. Diego and Allison went back to the suburbs on foot, having refused to go back with Five's help. Luther and Vanya left to play violin soon after that. They seemed closer with each day passing, and it made Ben smile.

Klaus, on the other hand, seemed worse each time he looked at him. It was just the two of them now. Despite the soft fairy lights giving the room a warm atmosphere, the silence only filled by the hum of the cumulus, and the bright pink yarn flowing around Klaus like he'd purposefully made himself a barrier against the darkness, something was off. Gloomy, unneasy, whatever adjective Ben could think of covered only part of the wrongness that tugged at his heart. Klaus' leg was boucing up and down, and a quiet whimper would escape his lips once in a while. Ben frowned, fought against himself for a while, but finally gave up.

“Klaus.” He waited for his brother to react, but Klaus simply hummed without turning around. “Come on, let's... Let's go find something for your nerves.” That's when he turned around, the damn brat.

“What d'you mean ?” His voice was soft and barely audible, but his tone was hopeful.

“You know what I mean, come on, get dressed.” As Klaus got up, Ben laid out the rules. “Nothing hard, only weed okay ? They make medical stuff nowadays, so we could look into it later.” Klaus fumbled around for a while, hesitated between a multicolored crop top and a black loose tank top with a low, low neckline. Ben pursed his lips, not really sure dressing that way would help for discretion.

“My sweet Ben, remind me again. What year is it already ?” Ben blinked, and Klaus looked at him with a soft grin. “No legalization for a while I'm afraid, Benny-boy.”

“Whatever, let's go before I change my mind.”

“Pesky time travel, am I right ?” Klaus chimed, skipping across the room perched on his heels.

“Where did you find all those clothes anyway ?” Ben opened the door for his brother to go through.

“People are surprisingly generous when you're about to fulfill their weirdest fantasies.”

Ah.

 

As it turns out, most dealers tended to vanish when they saw a young boy dressed like Klaus, wearing make up, acting as flamboyant and speaking as loud as he did. They spent the day looking around, and Ben had to put his foot down each time Klaus would suggest going to one of his old dealers.

“Dude, your old dealers are all creepy fuckers that would either request a blow job or give you free samples of crack. We're sticking to the weed sellers.”

 

They spent the day walking, finally found someone willing to sell them a few heads, and practically crawled back to their beloved den. Their siblings were back, asked where they'd gone. Ben didn't answer, because each of his muscles screamed in agony with each step, and he dropped on his sleeping bag like a ragdoll. When Klaus stammered something about having neither paper nor filters nor grinders, he sighed and shut his eyes.

“Tough shit, boil it and drink it then. Or make cookies, I don't care, I'm not getting back up.” There was silence for a while, only the clicking of Klaus' heels on the concrete floor.

“Did you go out to buy drugs ?” Luther asked, offended for some reason. Someone turned the kettle on, probably Klaus, and started rummaging in the sink. Mugs clanked, water splached, Ben's headache reared it's old face.

“Yeah, we bought drugs, I'm not a big fan of ghosts.” He said, cringing against the beating in his skull.

“Raise your hand if you like them !” Exclaimed Klaus. Ben couldn't be bothered to look who would put their hand up, because he easily imagined none of them did. “It's just weed anyway,” Klaus hummed.

Ben let his conscience slip away, happy to let the pain go for a while. He jerked awake from a push on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to a smiling Klaus, handing him a steaming cup.

“Want some ? I added some milk. It's for the pain, of course.”

 


	18. Journey

Ben took a gulp of the weed tea, not as reluctantly as he'd wished, because he actually wanted to sleep that night, and the aching pain of his everywhere didn't seem like it'd let him. It didn't take effect right away, of course, but he was spent, and he slept until Vanya shook him awake for dinner. On tonight's menu, rice and chicken nuggets.

The pain subsided as he started eating, and a pleasant stupor envelloped his body, the meal losing it's flavor as his mouth went numb.

Klaus, on the other hand, seemed completely baked ; He had abandonned his plate, giggling at the air in front of him. He taunted a ghost, no doubt.

“Ha ! What did you say ? I didn't hear you ?” He doubled over in laughter, making their siblings feel a bit unneasy. Right, they hadn't seen him in his worst moments when he was praying for everything to stop, or almost comatose, or even OD-ing, so of course, this was strange for them to see. Ben was simply glad to watch his brother so happy and relaxed.

The evening went by, and the numbness gave way to blissful serenity. They tried to focus on the conversation at hand, something about equations and timelines, but Their siblings seemed really far away, as if at the end of a long tunnel.

Beside Them, Klaus had stopped laughing. When, Ben couldn't tell. Now he contemplated his hands in silence, a strange look of... something in his eyes. They wanted to ask if he was okay, because They shouldn't feel the effects of the tea so much, with the single gulp They'd taken. How much of what they brought back did he put in there ?

“How you puddin' ?” Is what came out of Their face. Shit, They couldn't even talk properly anymore.

“What the hell ?” Five asked, comprehensively taken aback. Was Klaus okay ?

“Klaus ?” They asked. “What. Is. Happening. To. Us ?” Oh, so _They_ could talk properly, but not... Them ? Ben didn't try to think too much, They could feel Their train of thought muddling through the fog in Their head.

“Are you alright Ben ?” Allison's soft voice. Concerned ? They had to ask about Klaus, because They couldn't see him anymore. He was probably in Their periphery, but Their vision was getting dark and blurry.

“Is. Klaus. Okay ?” They asked, the voice strange. The body was heavy, was it exhausted ? “How. Much. Did. He. Boil ?” Their body wasn't exhausted, merely relaxed. Ben couldn't tell who was in command anymore. Where did who start again ? They felt like One, and it was _Weird™_. Would the siblings answer already ?

“Well, he's... He looks sleepy, but he seems fine, I guess ?” Who had talked ? Not sure, really.

“There's like, five in the saucepan ?” Why would Five be in the saucepan ?

“Why. Would. Five. Be. In. The. Saucepan ?” Ben squished the face with the hands, trying to make sense of this new information, but it was a bit too much. Fortunately, someone untangled the problem for Them.

“Ben, there's five heads of weed in the saucepan. Are you okay ?” Again, that question. But They were fine. Klaus was the one they should worry about.

“We're. Good. Klaus.” They said, and even _They_ were starting to struggle. They paused, collected the words. Put them in order. “Did. He. Drink.” Come on, just one more word. They squeezed the eyes shut, took a breath. “Everything ?” Five heads of weed, that was like... How many times too much ? Too many times at least. A whole lot too many anyway.

“Well, his mug is empty, but there's some tea left in the pan.” Shit, the whole mug ? Was he crazy ?

“Crazy !” They managed to blurt out. “Klaus'. In.” The tongue felt so fucking heavy in the mouth. What was the word again ? What was it ? Klaus liked to say it. Not in the right... Language ? “Achtung !” That's what he liked to say, yes ! They tried to feel Their brother with a hand. He should be right next to Them. But everything felt weird. When They tried to turn around, the whole head spun like it was laced with lead and lauched too fast. They distinguished Klaus' body on the floor, but couldn't say if he was breathing. Someone was next to him, feeling his pulse, maybe ? It was Diego. They had to do something, something important. Klaus should have done it himself, but he took too much too fast. What was it, come on, think !

“He's breathing's a bit slow, but his heart's okay. Ben, he just fell asleep, I think ?” Yes, alright, but there was something he should have done. What did he look like ? Focus. He was sprawled on the floor on his back, like a starfish, his eyes half closed and a smile on his face. On his back ?

“Recovery. Position !” That's what it was ! They waved Diego, tried to frown, but not sure what that did. They observed Klaus being pushed on his side like a ragdoll, and They felt infinitely better already. They sighed, and tried to lie back. But the ground was a lot farther away than They'd anticipated. They felt like falling off a cliff, so They slowed Their fall with a tentacle, gripping whatever They could.

“Ben, are you alright ?” Someone exclaimed from above. The eyes had gone shut, and impossible to open them. They were on the ground now, hard and soothing.

“Yeah,” They huffed.

Before They finally fell asleep, They heard the cursed sound of Klaus puking and gasping. That should teach him to be reasonable.

 

Pff, right.

 

“Ben, wake up !” His head was spinning a bit, and his eyes refused to open, so he grunted to let Vanya know he was awake. “Klaus' gone.” That woke him up alright.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was fun to write ! Absolutely [not] based on personal experience !


	19. It's all about her. And deflection, probably

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea where this is going. I'm just in for the ride at this point, honestly

“Did he say anything while I was out of it ?” He asked, putting on his socks and shoes. No one tried to dissuade him from going to look for him this time. They all knew now, that Klaus shouldn't be left unsurpervised. Good for them, he guessed. They were dressing up too.

“He wouldn't shut up about cockroaches crawling on him, and huh...” Diego got distracted by the belt loop of his harness.

“A whole other lot of incoherent stuff,” Vanya provided, already ready to go and by the door.

“Yeah, no, the cockroaches are...” How should he put it for his siblings ? He didn't actually want to scar them too much. “A drug thing,” he eluded. Though it shouldn't have happened with weed, it was a deep seated psychological effect. Ben wasn't too surprised it followed Klaus even in his fresh teenage body.

“He also talked about Dolores ?” Allison said while wrapping herself in her coat.

“Yeah, he was weirdly focused on her, actually,” Luther added for good measure.

 

Ben still felt a bit fuzzy, but the fresh air of the night slapped him awake. The others had asked if they should split up once again, but Ben had a pretty good idea where Klaus could be. They half jogged all the way to the shop they'd passed by the day before, where they'd seen Dolores looking up at the sky. But it also was where Damien was killed. The whole place was covered in yellow police tape. When they were close enough, they could see the blood smeared on the fire hydrant and the ground. The body was gone, obviously, and only an empty police car on the other side of the street kept an eye on the crime scene.

“So, you really think he's here ?” Luther asked, hunched over and looking nervously over to the cop car. Ben looked over toward the shop window. The glass was broken.

“Dolores ?” Five said with a small voice. She leaned on the mannequin next to her, and Five teleported by her side. He holed her back on her 'feet' gently, lovingly, and Ben understood why Klaus was so obsessed with getting her to him. Ben couldn't go closer because of the police tape, but he could swear he saw blood on the broken shards of glass.

“Where are you, you stupid fuck ?” He muttered to himself, loking around nervously, leaving Five to his too personal reunion with Dolores. He almost jumped out of his skin when a man spoke behind him.

“Are you kidding me ?” Detective Lupo said. Ben turned around to see Klaus dangling from the man's grip. He looked pretty much out of it, and a basic bandage made of Lupo's shirt wrapped his right hand. “Is he high ?” Lupo asked, shaking Klaus for emphasis. His brother whined miserably.

“Soo~ rry Fiveyyy, I didn'- didn' free herr.” His voice was shrill and hoarse, foggy eyes settling on Five. “I got. Goat,” he giggled, hand on his mouth. “Coat,” he let out, before laughing hysterically.

“Caught ?” Ben offered, but it only made Klaus laugh more. “Yeah, he took a bit too much cough syrup. For his cold,” he told the Detective, who looked at him with an expression that dissuaded Ben from smirking.

“You know what ? I don't think I give a sh... Yeah, I don't give a shit. But you're gonna explain what the fuck is going on with the mannequin, because I had to pull glass shards from his hands while holding him down because he wouldn't stop trying to take it out of there.”

“'Tis her, you uncultt- unculturr'd swine !” Klaus objected, eyebrows furrowed and a hand trying to punch the detective's arm. He missed, and his fist drooped down. “She's Fivey'z~...” His eyes drew shut for a second, and he went limp in Lupo's hold. “Wifey !” He sprang back, breaking into another fit of giggle.

“For god's sake, Klaus,” Five muttered, but his attention was drawn toward Dolores more often than not. “Can you let him go, detective ?” He asked, with resignation.

“I don't think you understand the situation. Can you see the state of that glass window ? You might be from the futur, trying to prevent the apocalypse or whatever, but I can't just...”

“Bill, come on, don't be harsh,” Diego said.

“You ! Don't get to call me that !” Lupo spat as he pointed an accusatory finger at him, making Diego retreat in confusion and raise his hands in surrender.

“No you're- you're- you're right, sorry, you don't- don't know me yet. It's my bad.” Klaus had gone limp again, and a distressed whimper reached Ben's ears. The edge of Their vision went blurry, Their sole focus being Their brother.

“Klaus,” They said with both Their voices. The detective flinched back, yanking Klaus away a bit too abruptly for Their taste.

“What the fuck's up with his eyes ?” Lupo cried out. “And- And the voice... ?”

“Hey Ben ?” Diego put a hand on his arm right as he tried to reach Klaus. “Maybe you and you should calm down, yeah ? Try not to give the detective a heart attack ?” Reluctantly, They stopped moving toward Klaus, closed Their eyes and took a deep breath.

“Mister detective sir,” Diego pleaded next to him. “Could you maybe let him go so my brother can check on him ?”

“Well, you see, if I let go, he either falls down or makes a run for that mannequin.” Lupo's voice was surprisingly levelled despite his earlier panic. When Ben opened his eyes again, his vision had gone back to normal. “Didn't even have time to call it in yet,” Lupo muttered, his eyes firmly locked on Ben, his free hand hovering around his gun.

“Alright, but now that we're here, we can keep him still,” Diego argued. “Please ?” The detective sighed, but finally accompanied Klaus' fall to the floor. He sat down legs crossed, swaying back and forth, his eyes fluttering open and shut. Ben leaped to his side, checking his breathing and heart rate, sighing in relief when they were both normal, But the bandage on his hand was soaked in blood and dripping on his bare leg.

“For fuck's sake, Klaus,” he muttered. “You don't have a tolerance yet, you idiot, it could have been really bad.”

“Benny,” he whispered with a fuzzy smile on his face. “I'm glad I can still see you,” he breathed out. Ben pursed his lips, and held his arm a bit tighter.

“Are the cockroaches gone ?” He asked softly, not trying to rush Klaus' mind on the subject of Ben being alive now.

“Yeah, they... They left throught there,” he said, showing his bloody hand, relief in his voice. There was nothing more Ben could do about it right now, so he simply patted his arm and smiled.

“So what do we do ?” Lupo asked. Ben turned to look at him. He was shielding his lighter from the wind, his head ducked to the side, and lit a cigarette. “That window ain't gonna repair itself. And what about that hand of his,” he pointed at Klaus with his cigarette, his attention darting around the street. “He's gonna need stitches.”

“No hospitals !” Klaus whined, suddenly awake, pleading eyes locked on Ben.

“Don't worry about that, there's no way we can go to the hospital anyway.”

“What ?”Lupo said, eyebrows raised high. “What do you... Oh yeah, the commission, right ?”

“Right. Plus we have no money, no administrative identity, and ho, we're kids,” Alison enounciated, kneeling next to Ben and Klaus. She gently pried the bloody hand out of Ben's clutch, and tightened the knot of the makeshift bandage. The blood that soaked the cloth fell to the ground, and Klaus winced soundlessly. She turned to Lupo. “We've got a first aid kit back home, he made us buy it,” she said, pointing at Klaus. “So maybe you could let us go ?” Lupo had his arms crossed, brows furrowed, and his cigarette was dancing around his mouth, like he was chewing on it.

“Why are you asking,” he waved at his head. “if you can mess with my mind and make me do it ?”

“Because for some reason Diego likes you and Five wants you on our side.” They stared at each other as if the first one to break eye contact would lose at something. Lupo caved first.

“Shit on a stick,” he muttered while rubbing his eyes. He looked around the empty street, and then back at Klaus, who was trying to get up and convince Ben to help him steal Dolores. The detective let out a big sigh, and shooed them all away. “Leave before I change my mind.” They got Klaus up, Luther holding him almost entirely, and they left without another word. “And if that mannequin disappears, I know where you live !” Lupo shouted as they turned around a street corner.


	20. Damn Their father

“I blew it for Dolores. I'm sorry,” Klaus wimpered again and again, seating in the middle of their home, while Allison and Five worked on his hand. The cut inside his palm looked deep, definitely long, and it should hurt like hell. But with the quantity of tea Klaus had drank, there was no way he could feel any of it.

“Don't worry, it's fine,” Five would say each time, and each time he sounded a little bit more irritated. Klaus' eyes settled on his wound as Five cut the excess wire of the fourth stitch.

“Hey matt, you lost your hand or what ? Those stitches look atrocious.” Five clicked his tongue, offended by the remark while he threaded a new wire on the curved needle.

“Who's Matt, Klaus ?” Allison asked, clearing the blood with cotton. Klaus stopped mumbling unintelligibly, taken aback by the question. He looked at Allison, and his eyes went wide.

“Al ? Why are you here ?” He then turned to Five, and seemed even more lost. “Five ? Where's Matt ? What are you...”

“Klaus, focus,” Ben said a little forcefully. Klaus turned to him, a bit lost. “Where are you ?”

“Whadaya mean, Benny, we're in the medic tent. Why are y'all here, anyway...” he said, finally looking around, his voice lowering as he took in his surroundings. “Oh.” He said as he realised he wasn't, in fact in the medic tent. “That explains the shitty stitches...” he trailed. “So, Dave's...” he looked around again, and his face crumpled as the realisation hit him. Ben was by his side and squeezing him before he started crying. Five hovered above the wound, hesitant, and questionned Ben with a look.

“Go ahead,” he whispered, nodding along. Five finished the stitches as fast as he could, hands trembling more and more each time Klaus melted in another fit of tears. He swore under his breath each time he had to backtrack, and cursed the lack of alcohol in their house once or twice.

At long last, they tucked their sobbing mess of a brother in his bag, and discussed the need for a look out. Luther volunteered for the first part of the night, arguing that he was the only one to do next to nothing during the day.

“I mean, you all work hard, and I simply sit behind Vanya while she plays her violoin. So I can at least do that, right ?” It was nice of him to give real arguments other than 'I'm number One, so I choose'. So the rest of them agreed with him, and went back to bed.

 

 

They opened the eyes slowly. It felt like sand glued them shut. They didn't like to be the one to have to do this. Why did They have to awake first ? They did not like it one bit. Not since _They_ were five and Father caught Them.

In Their field of vision, the rusted steel framework of the ceiling, and above that, grey cement. They knew Father was nowhere around, but They felt queasy nonetheless. They didn't succeed in moving the head right away, but when They did, Vanya was there, kneeled next to Klaus.

They hated being seen by others while _he_ was still sleeping. But it wasn't Father, so They repressed the urge to close the eyes and pretend They weren't awake.

“Ben...” Vanya started, but her eyes widened when she met Theirs. “... Jamin ? Why are you...” She didn't finish her sentence. They tried sitting up, but They still hadn't mastered the command of the body yet. And something sabotaged Their struggling attempts ; The sleeping bag. It clang to the body, and it was uncomfortable. They hated being this defenseless. They started to make tentacles slither out, but Vanya's voice stopped Them. 

“Do... Do you need help ?” Vanya approached. She put her hands above Them, but seemed to wait for an answer. They didn't want to be touched, They didn't want to be hurt, They didn't want the needles and the probes and the taser... It wasn't Father, They reminded Themself.

“We. Cannot. Sit.” It seemed to be enough for Their sister, who started to unzip the treacherous bed. When she had finished, she offered a hand to Them. They didn't want to be touched. They didn't want... They took her hand, and she helped Them up.

“Why are you in command ?” She asked when she was sure They wouldn't fall back.

“ _He_. Isn't. Awake. Yet.” Vanya tilted her head to the side. She sat cross-legged next to Them, and looked in Their eyes with applied concentration. They had to remind Themself very hard that she wasn't Father. She wouldn't hurt Them. Yes ?

“Does... Does it happen often ?” She asked. Was this curiosity ? They couldn't tell without _him_. 

“Sometimes.” They tried to take a peek around her, where Klaus laid asleep. “We. Do. Not. Like. It.” She frowned.

“Why ?” They couldn't see Klaus very much, but he seemed peacefully asleep.

“Father. Would. Hurt. Us.” They looked back at her. Her face was rippled by wrinkles. 

“What do you mean ?” Her voice trembled a little. 

“ _He_. Told. Us. Father. Was. Scared. Of. Us. So. Father. Scared. Us. First.” She made a noise in her throat, and she cried a little. “And. That. Father. Wanted. To. Know. More. About. Us. But. He. Didn't. Know. He. Could. Just. Ask.” She reached a hand with her own. “And. That. He. Wanted. To. Make. _Him_. Scared. Of. Us. But. He. Couldn't. Because. We. Are. One.”

“I'm sorry.” She sniffled, then frowned, then wiped her nose. “Ben told you all that ?” They tilted the head like They'd seen her do earlier. They had told her.

“We. Are. Ben.” They said, a bit hurt. But maybe, Vanya didn't know who They were talking about ? “The. Other. Ben.” She started asking another question, but Klaus made a noise, so they both turned to him. And then something went numb in the head, and They went numb as _he_ woke up. They were only too happy to go back...

 

 

“What the shit ?” Ben whispered to himself as he woke up. Why was he sitting up ? Vanya was sitting by his side, and she turned her head to him.

“Ben ? You're back ?” She looked puzzled, as if he wasn't in his own bed, just waking up.

“What d'you mean ? I didn't... I didn't sleep walk, right ?” He said with a chuckle.

“No, but... I was just talking with... Jamin.”

“What ?”

“What ?” Klaus repeated with a groggy voice, trying to sit up with a hand while rubbing his eyes with the other.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing in Jamin's POV (They're Jamin now, because I laughed too hard when I thought it up to just give it up. Plus why would only 'Ben' be written on his memorial statue, if his full name was Benjamin ? Because they didn't want to put Jamin up there. Because of reasons I'll talk about later).


	21. What happened that fateful day

Their other siblings came back from their morning shower right about this moment, and Diego, the last one to enter, barely closed the door behind him before Vanya started retelling eveything _They_ 'd said.

 “Wait,” Five interrupted, a hand up in a 'stop right there' motion. “Why didn't we know about that ? Why did you never tell us _They_ 'just did that' sometimes ?” He had accompanied the end of his sentence with finger quotes.

 “Well maybe if I'd known, I might have told you,” Ben scoffed, squirming in his bed for a better seating position. “I don't even remember _Them_ talking all that much. And I certainly don't remember telling _Them_ all that. Or just talking to _Them_.” 

 “Hum, well, _They_ did say you were five, it's possible you just forgot.” Vanya said helpfully.

 “How could I forget...” Ben started, before _They_ stopped him dead in his tracks. 

' _Father made you forget._ ' What the fuck ? How did he do that ?

 “Ben ? What's up ?” Diego's voice reached his ears but he didn't register. 

' _With probes and electro-convulsive therapy, Father called it._ '

 “He's talking with _Them_ ,” Klaus chimed, his eyes and voice bright with delight.

 “Electro-convulsive therapy ?” Ben repeated aloud, taken aback by that new information. He had read about it when Klaus had been stuck in rehab once. Ben'd pestered his brother to help him read, and in his anaesthetized numbness, Klaus'd been content with doing nothing but turn pages for hours on end. “When _We_ were _five_ ?” He exclaimed. “What kind of...” Oh, yeah, that kind of father.

 “Fucking hell, that's raw, even for Reginald.” Five had made his way to the sink, still rubbing his hair with a white towel, and absently grabbed his mug. 

 “What else did I forget ?” Ben muttered for himself. How much of him did Father make disappear ? 

'We  _forgot how to control each other's bodies._ ' 

 “I... I knew how to do _that_?” He said aloud, shoulders dropping in bewilderment.

 “Do what ?” Allison asked, voice sweet as honey. She'd sat on the stairs lady like, and the hat she'd made out of her towel slipped a little when she tilted her head. Ben frowned, and made vague gestures to accompany his explanations.

 “Apparently _We_ could control each other's bodies.” Allison's expression changed ever so slightly. from simple curiosity, her frown deepened and... Darkened a little ? 

 “Yeah, but you always did that right ?” Luther said, sitting cross-legged on the cold floor, a pair of socks in hand. “I mean, during the missions, with the tentacles, you...” He interrupted himself, one foot in the air waiting for its sock. “You were the one to control them right ?”

 “No, I just let _Them_ loose. Why did you think I didn't want you in the same room as me when I got the tentacles out ?” Luther shrugged.

 “Because you... You were shy about it ?” He hazarded.

 “No, because I didn't want _Them_ to hurt you.”

 “When you say ' _Them_ ', you're talking about... Jamin, not the tentacles, Right ?” Five said the name reluctantly, and a smile brightened Klaus' face. “Maybe we should start adressing _Them_ by that name, it would make the discussion clearer.”

' _We would never hurt our siblings. We hated the violence._ '

 “Yeah, well, turns out I didn't know that, did I ?” Ben grunted out loud.

 “What ?” A few of the siblings asked. Ben waved a hand dismissively.

 “ _They_ said... Jamin just said _They_ would never hurt you. And that _They_ hated the violence ? How crazy...” And at that, Diego snorted. 

 “Yeah, right !” He spat, sarcasm barely hiding his anger. “Just like _They_ 'd never hurt you, am I right ?” 

 “ _We_ never wanted that,” Benjamin said defensively, and the others barely flinched back when _They_ joined. “It's not _Our_ fault _Our_ big body hurts _Our_ small body.” 

 “I'm not talking about that,” Diego snapped. “I'm refering to the 'insignificant' time You,” he pointed an angry finger right in _Their_ face, “killed _him_ ,” he dropped. What ? There was a long pause where no one moved. Benjamin's thoughts came to a halt. 

And then Jamin alone spoke.

 “We... We. Did. Not ?” _Their_ voice was trembling, unsure.

 “Yes. Yes you did, I was there, I saw it.” Diego's voice was low and dangerous, filled with tears and anger and sadness and _horror_. “You- You-You tore him apart trying to get- to get- to get out of his stomach until- until,” a sob interrupted him. He sniffled violently, wiped his nose, and resumed. “Until there was nothing left of- of- of him and then- and then- and then you died too, because apparently none of you can live without the other.” Silent tears ran freely across his face, and he made no move to wipe them away.

 “No...” Jamin stammered. But _They_ weren't sure. _They_ couldn't remember it. _They_ 'd never been able to remember _Their_ death. Could it be true ? A disgusting feeling rose in _Their_ body. None of _Them_ was sure who it came from. Terror. Pure terror gripped _Their_ body, making _Them_ shudder and hug _T_ _hemself_ tightly. Another body envelloped itself around _Them_. Klaus. He pressed his head against _Their_ shoulder, silent support, warm support. "Why can't _We_ remember ?" 

_They_ looked desperately at  _Their_ siblings, trying to find some answer, some comfort, some proof  _They_ weren't just a mad animal. Their attention set on Allison. She'd cupped her face with her hands, tears streaking her face, horror distorting her usually sweet features.

 "Oh my god," she breathed out, "Oh my god ! Oh my god !" She repeated louder, almost hysterically. "I- I- I... I think it was my fault !" She cried out, and then she dissolved into a panic attack.

 


	22. What goes around come around, as they say

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for a little bit of gore, nothing graphic though. Also, Reginald is the scum of the earth, but that's nothing new

Luther was the first to spring into action, hovering above Allison's hunched over body, unsure if he should touch her or not. She still hadn't shown any sign of forgiving him, even though Vanya had. Benjamin were still at a loss, unsure about what Allison'd meant about Their death being her fault. It was finally Vanya that slithered between Five and Diego, and under Luther's shadow. She sat next to their sister, put a hand on her back, and whispered soft words in her ear.

When Allison finally calmed down, she had her head pressed on Vanya's chest, and her hands covered her face firmly. They all waited for her to speak first.

“The day before the mission,” she said with a raspy voice. “Dad called me in his office.” She straightened a little, hugged herself and took a breath. “And you were there,” she said, looking Benjamin in the eyes. “He'd forbidden me to rumor you, do you remember that ? Because he didn't know what it could do to you, being two and all.” She paused for a bit, cleared her throat. “But that day he made me do it. Said it was time I tried it on you, that it was the next step to my training. Some very particular sentence he'd written down so I would say it exactly how he wanted me to.” She closed her eyes, frowned in concentration, racking her brain for that sentence. “That 'you should escape on your own during the next mission'. I wasn't really... I wasn't really interested,” she said, lowering her head in shame. “I just thought he wanted to see how you'd do it ? But... But now, I realise I was- I was talking to You, right ? I was rumoring Jamin ?” There was an audible, tangible gasp. Benjamin's ears filled with the sound of Their own blood rushing in Their brain. “It was my fault you died !” Allison cried out again, before burying her head back in Vanya's chest.

The others did stuff. Probably. They might have moved around, paced back and forth, sat down in horror, rubbed their hands on their faces. But Benjamin did not register any of it.

' _We're sorry, We're sorry, We're sorry,_ ' Jamin chanted endlessly, filling Their skull with grief and disgust at Themself, making Their stomach rumble louder and louder under Their big body's restlessness. And Ben sat there, unmoving, unthinking, limp against Klaus' hold.

“It's okay,” he said finally. He'd meant it toward Them, but Allison heard it for herself, he guessed.

“No, it's not !” She quaked.

' _No it's not_ ,' Jamin ghosted in Their head.

“It is. We're alive, it won't happen again.” Ben's voice sounded dull, even to himself. He didn't particularly care.

“But why would Dad do that ?” Luther sounded at a loss. It was an understandable question, Ben guessed. Didn't mean it didn't tick him off.

“Because he's an ass.” He answered.

“My guess is he was scared of you,” Five provided. “Maybe he couldn't control you anymore.” If The Boy wasn't their brother, Ben would have taken a step back when he heard his voice. His stance had changed too ; He stood straighter, and his expression was sharp and murderous. “So he got rid of you.”

The bannister screeched under Luther's grip as it bent slowly but surely, chips of black paint falling to the floor. And Lo and behold, something Ben thought he'd never see in his life happened ; Diego went up to his brother, and without looking at him, whispered softly, his jaw tightly shut, his eyes shooting daggers into the wall ahead. And Luther turned at the bannister, and let it go as if he'd just aknowledged its existence. Then he mumbled something to Diego, an apology maybe ? It almost put a smile on Ben's face. He would have smiled, too, if not for Their incessant crying in the back of Their head. That was plenty enough of crying, in Ben's opinion, but apparently not in Theirs. Alright, he guessed They deserved to cry after all those revelations.

“What was that about Them 'hating the violence' ?” Diego asked with genuine curiosity. “I remember a few dismembered corpses that would beg to differ.”

“Father. Threatened. You.” Jamin replied, Their crying cut short by the distraction. Ben sure was glad They had the attention span of a toddler. 'Jean qui rit, Jean qui pleure,' he'd heard some french ghost scream at Klaus for weeks on end when he was in rehab, alternating between happy and depressed in a blink of an eye. “If. We. Didn't. Kill. The. Bad. Men. Father. Would've. killed. All. Of. You.”

“Jesus Christ !” Five breathed out, burrying his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes fiercely. “I thought I'd never say that, but you know what ? Fuck the timeline, let's go back and kill the fucker after all.” Ben wanted nothing more but to agree. But he was so glad to know he wasn't a monster, so glad They weren't either ; He couldn't just be okay with their father's murder. Nobody really took Five's outburst seriously, and after some silent pondering, Klaus clapped his hands together, regretting it immediately when his wound reminded itself to him.

“Welp, who's up for ice cream ?”

 

And they were all up for ice cream, because after hearing about Sir Reginald's fucked up abuse, they liked to unwind however they could. So here they all were, wandering the street in stunned silence, except for Klaus' weird little song ;

“♪ Ice cream, you scream, the police cones, it's awkward ! Ice cream, you scream... ♫” He sang, gripping Ben's arm like a lifeline, pushing him along the sidewalk. Ben felt like he moved on autopilot, not really paying attention to his surroundings. The fact that even They'd been tortured by Father, and the fact that They _remembered_ all of it sent a chill down his spine. He wanted to ask Jamin what Father had done to Them exactly, and why couldn't he remember any of it ? Why did They never say anything ?

' _Father kept you asleep with the needle he put in your brain_.' For fuck's sake, the more he learned, the less he wanted to know, because if everything was of that nature, maybe it should stay forgotten. _'Father said you'd hate Us if you knew about it_.' No, he was wrong, he'd have done something. Anything, even just moral support, a methaphorical shoulder to cry on. ' _We went to Klaus' room sometimes. He let Us cry all night with him_.' Well, shit, now Ben was crying again. So that's why he used to wake up in Klaus' room with no memory of going there. He wasn't sleepwalking after all. ' _And sometimes Father..._ ' No, okay, now he begged for some time to assimilate all that. Maybe not everything at once, he implored Them. ' _…_ '

“Ben ?” Klaus was yanking his arm. He came back to reality to the pleasant chill of the ice cream shop down the road. The lady behind the counter was looking at him curiously. “Which one do you want ?” Klaus asked him. Ben blinked a few times.

“Huh. Vanilla ?” He said the first thing that came to him. Vanilla was good. The ice cream lady went to work, setting seven cones on seven footstands, and picked an ice cream scoop.

“You're gonna take root if you stay planted here, Benny,” Klaus said, pulling him away from the counter and toward the round table in the back of the shop.

Klaus single-handedly animated the table, the others chuckling at his jokes or humoring his weird ideas. The ice creams came, and for the first one in fifteen years, it was like a blanket made of clouds melted in his mouth. He asked Them if They wanted to taste it, because he was pretty sure They'd never tasted anything, and now that injustice could be repaired.

' _We'd very much like to taste the ice cream_ ,' Jamin said, delighted. And Ben was pretty sure he would kill Reginald next time he'd see him for having deprived Them of each other. With his bare hands. In the meantime, he let Them take the driver's seat just enough so he could still move the body himself. They took a big bite off the top of the scoop. Too big.

“It's. Cold ?” Yes, it was cold. “It. Hurts.” They complained, the side of the head thumping painfully.

“That's called brainfreeze, Jamin,” Klaus said, smiling brightly, patting the arm. “Don't bite it, lick it, gently, like a...”

“I'ma stop you right there, bruh,” Diego interrupted. “We don't need details.” So Jamin licked the cream.

“It's. Pleasant.”

 

When they all finished and were out on the streets again, they'd finally relaxed. They joked and laughed about silly things, and walked leisurely. Someone suggested they go to the park, and it sounded good, so they did.

 

“You fucking whore !” Someone shouted ahead of their group. A man, red with anger, eyes blown wide by whatever substance coursed through his veins, and a finger accusingly pointing at Klaus.

“Yes ?” That idiot replied, cocking his head to the side.

“Everything's your fault ! My wife saw us ! I can't see my kids anymore !” His skin was an alarming shade of purple now. Whatever he was on, he was on the verge of dying. He should calm down, maybe, Ben thought vaguely.

“I'm sorry, I have no idea who you are ?” Klaus answered helpfully. Some of his brothers had inched toward Klaus, trying to get between him and the newcomer. But the guy drew out a gun, and before anyone could react, because sometimes druggies can be fast like that, he pulled the trigger, and Ben felt something hot and wet and disgustingly mushy hit his face.

 


	23. Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for blood and gore

Many things happened at once, and Ben could only frown while all of it unfolded in front of him like a film. First, Diego got out a knife from seemingly nowhere.

 Klaus' body started to tip back.

_There was blood everywhere._

Then a flash of blue distorted the air, Five snatched Diego's knife off his hand.

 Klaus' body kept plummeting in slow motion.

Another flash of blue, and Diego's knife plunged in the guy's throat, Five latched on his back like a goblin.

_There was blood everywhere._

 Klau's body formed a perfect forty-five degree angle with the ground.

The knife reappeared in a spurt of blood, to immediately disappear again into the guy's ear.

_There was blood everywhere._

 Klaus' body had stopped falling ; Tentacles cushioned his lifeless form. Weird.

Every lamppost bent down to the ground, thunder boomed somewhere above, the sky went black.

 Klaus' corpse leaked brain and blood onto Their tentacles. A hole had taken the place of his big green eyes.

Five was pushed away from the guy's body by Luther, who began pummeling the guy's face into the ground.

 _There was blood everywhere_.

Cars' alarms started to blare, muffling the 'Oh my gods' of his siblings. Ben wiped his face with his sleeve, looked down at it when he was done.

_There was blood everywhere._

He looked back up. Allison's hands hovered over Klaus' corpse. Her eyes were wide with shock, filled with tears than ran freely down her cheeks, her lips moving to the litany of 'Klaus' she muttered in disbelief. Diego helped Five wrestle Luther away from the almost headless guy.

_There was blood everywhere._

Rain started pouring down hard. Luther stopped struggling against his brothers' headlock. The three of them turned toward Klaus' corpse. Faces were made, screams were cried out, hair was pulled and tears were shed.

“He'll be fine,” Ben heard himself say from far away. Red streaks washed away into the drains. Brain bits slid off to the ground.

_There was blood everywhere._

Five started pushing everyone one by one toward Klaus' corpse. He approached Ben with a look on his face. By god, this look, Ben caught himself thinking.

“Ben ?” His voice sounded far away, drowned out by the rain and the car alarms and the crying and the blood rushing in his ears. “Ben, we need- We need to go.” So, even Five could cry and sound hysteric.

“He'll be fine,” he repeated with a smile to reassure his brother.

“Ben, you're in shock, I- I get it, but we- we need to go, come on.” Five took him by the arm, and pulled him closer to Klaus' corpse, lying there on Their tentacles. He could touch him if his hands would respond. Allison sounded like she could hardly breath, Vanya's eyes were white and wide. Luther's hands were red and his face splashed with blood. Diego hadn't moved one bit since Five had put him there, with his hand on Allison's shoulder. They were all in shock.

“He'll be fine,” he repeated softly. “He'll be fine.”

Blue light spread around them. It distorted the air, wavered, dwindled, and disappeared.

“Vanya, you need to calm down,” Five panted next to Ben. “Your powers are preventing mine to work.” His voice cracked at the end as he choked a little on his tears. Vanya was breathing hard, sobbing and cuddling herself. Five went to hold her shoulders. “Please, Vanya, people are coming, we need to leave.” She nodded, took a long breath then exhaled through her mouth. The rain subsided, and the blue light of Five's power finally transported them all away. It felt nauseating, itchy, uncomfortable. They landed roughly on the floor of their home, right in the middle of the 'living room'.

 

“What the fuck ?” A familiar voice exclaimed in Ben's back. What was Lupo doing here ? Whatever. Ben wanted to go fetch some towels to dry Klaus' corpse down, but the tentacles were still under his carcass. Jamin indulged, and slowly slithered Their limbs from under Their brother. Ben got up on shaky legs and went to the towel corner, wedged between the sink and the platform at the entrance. He could hear most of his siblings cry, some of them repeating 'It can't be, it can't be !' angrily to themselves. Ben grabbed the first towels he could reach, filled a cup with water and plopped back next to the body of his brother. He laid the first towel on his head, covering the disturbing hole that had been his face once. With a second towel, he started rubbing the limp limbs to dry them off. It'd be a shame if he caught a cold.

“Ben.” Five said. “Ben, what are you doing ? Ben, stop- stop it, you don't have to-”

“He'll be fine.” He shushed, a soft smile on his lips. “We wouldn't want him to catch his death, right ?” He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a little. It didn't work.

“Ben ! Ben, please, snap out of it, he's- he's already dead !” Five whispered the last words, a tear rolling down his cheek.

“He'll be fine,” Ben repeated desperately. “Don't worry, he'll be fine.”

It had been a bit long now, no ? A little bit too long to Ben's liking. Something tugged at his chest. A lump in his throat. A tear rolled out of his eyes. He grabbed at his own chest, trying to breath a little. He focused on drying Klaus instead.

“Ben...”

“He'll be fine !” He snapped. Lupo approached, started asking something.

“Shut up !” Five yelled at him. “Leave us alone ! Can't you take a fucking clue ?” His voice broke down, he got up to latch out on the detective. “Can't you see our brother's dead ?”

“He'll be fine,” Ben repeated.

“Stop it, please !” Allison cried. “Ben, please, please stop saying that.” Ben giggled softly, because, man, were they all in for a surprise when he'd wake up. Anytime now.

“Anytime now, Klaus,” he whispered, giggle dying down in his throat. A strong set of bloody hands squeezed his shoulders.

“Ben, I'm sorry, Ben, but...” Luther mumbled in his ear.

 

A breath.

 

 


	24. A fact of existence ? What ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I already said, I'm going in a bit blind folded, but I think it's going well. I have no idea where or when I should stop. Tell me if it gets boring or too long ! I'll wrap up the fic at least, give a semblance of ending.

 

The faintest thing, that breath. Ben almost missed it. The others did. A huge smile stretched across his face.

Allison was crying into Diego's chest, whose features were blank and pale. Vanya was hugging her legs, swaying back and forth, lips trembling, eyes wet, silent. Five had sat on the stairs, and put his head between his knees. Luther, thankfully, had let go of his shoulders before he started to hurt him.

 

A short, confused, desperate gasp. Everyone else stopped breathing. Total silence.

Then Klaus started thrashing against the now bloody towel on his face, gurggling incoherently. Benjamin was instantly at his side. They shushed him, took the towel off his face, cupped it in Their hands.

“Klaus, Klaus, Klaus...” They murmured, trying to focus his gaze on Their own.

 

His breathing was erratic, his eyes glazed over, his hands latched on Benjamin's arms. He was freezing cold. Everyone had turned to him, eyes wide, words lost in their throats.

“Klaus, you're okay, we're safe, we're safe, breathe.” They kept up the litany of encouraging words until the boy calmed down.

 

His breathing was shallow, but regular. He tried to talk, but it came out all jumbled, incomprehensible babble. His eyes focused a little, his teeth chattered a lot, his legs wiggled a bit.

“Hey hey now, calm down,” He soothed. “Let's breathe okay ?”

 

He took a deep breath, then a second, and a third. His heart calmed down, his hands warmed up a little. He looked at Benjamin with wide, confused eyes.

“B-b-b- Bennh...” He got stuck on the last letter, stopped breathing trying to get it out.

“Breathe, idiot, come on,” Ben shuckled nervously.

 

And so he did breathe. He gripped Benjamin's arm so hard it started to hurt, but They said nothing. The others were transfixed, watched the miracle of Klaus' resurrection speechless, mouths agap, looking like particularly dumb fish. Even Lupo, who'd taken a step back, who still looked confused on top of being flabbergasted. Five had gotten up from the stairs to get a better view of the scene, but made no other move.

“Benn- nnh~njyy,” he finally got out before running out of air. He grinned at Them. They grinned back.

“Man, you scared me. She kept you longer than usual.”

 

Klaus went limp against Them, closed his eyes, grunted tiredly. He opened and closed his pasty mouth like he just smoked the biggest blunt, making the most disgustingly wet sound, and lolled his head from side to side, a drawn out hum at the back of his throat.

“mm'parchh~ ed,” he muttered.

“Yeah, come on,” Benjamin grabbed his head and heaved him up with a grunt. They put the glass of water They'd brought to Klaus' mouth, and tipped it slightly. “Open up, you need a drink.” He took a sip, choked and coughed on it, flailed about weakly, slipped a bit off Benjamin's grip, who grunted trying to keep him upright. Jamin decided to wrap him in tentacles, which startled him.

“Zz'hell ?” He wiggled closer to Their chest, frowning at the tentacle holding his shoulder.

“Klaus, stop wiggling around. You need to drink something.” He turned back around to look Them in the eyes, and smiled like an idiot.

“Octopusss !” He sang, and proceeded to jab a finger in Their eye. Their tentacles retracted reflexively.

“Ow!” They cried, losing Their hold on him.

“Fuck,” Ben put the glass down with a bit too much strenght, and pushed the heel of his hand on his eye. “Can I get some help here ?” He snapped at his siblings. Luther was the first to react. The closest too. He delicately lifted Klaus in his arms, looking at him like he still couldn't believe he was really alive. Understandable.

“H-how...” He whispered. But Ben had something to do. He grabbed the glass of water with a hand, and Klaus' chin with the other.

“Dude, come on, focus for a second.” He waited for his brother's gaze to settle on him again, but he closed his eyes before that.

“S'all whoopy,” he breathed out. “Sssleepyy...” And he fell asleep. Well, fair enough, having one's brain explode then reform was probably tiring.

Ben put the glass of water down, and rubbed his painful eye, slumping back on his heels, just now feeling the effects of the adrenaline rush fading away.

“Ben.” Five's voice was a weird mix of anger, disbelief, and stress. “What the fuck ?”

“Yeah, that,” Diego added. He had an arm across Allison's shoulders. She had wide, wet eyes on Klaus' slightly snoring form. Alright. Answer time, then.

“Well,” Ben started, stalling to arrange his thoughts. “The short answer is that God doesn't like him. So everytime he dies, he just comes back.” That was easier to explain than he'd thought, honestly.

“That makes no sense,” Diego said, in true Diego fashion.

“What do you mean, 'everytime he dies' ? How much does it happen ?” Vanya asked the important question. Ben scoffed, still rubbing his eye.

“A lot. Turns out homelessness, drug addiction and prostitution decreases people's survival rates. Who knew ?” He knew he sounded bitter, but he was tired. “And Klaus, well. He has a knack for getting the wrong people angry. I wouldn't be surprised if he died the other night,” he said pointing at Klaus' blackened neck, and looked around to his siblings' reactions. “You see those marks ? Yeah.” He concluded, because everyone had understood already.

“Why didn't he- didn't he say something ?” Allison muttered. Ben could only shrug at that.

“It's just a fact of his existence, he doesn't really think about it. Most of the time, he doesn't even realize he died.”

“What the fuck ?” Said the detective Lupo from the entrance. They all turned to him.

“Seriously, what are you doing here ?” Five sighed, exhausted by his jump.

 


	25. Doing a bit of detecting

“I wanted to check up on you, after last night.” That detective had nerves of steel, Ben couldn't help but think. A cigarette hovered between his fingers, unlit. “Was he really dead ?” He asks, eyes darting toward Klaus and back to Five.

“Yeah. Why are you _in_ our home ?”

“Door was open,” Lupo shrugged. “Is he gonna be okay ? Wasn't there a- a hole in his face ?”

“So you just walk in every unlocked house you come across ?” Five sneered, anger bubbling up.

“No, I mean, the door was actually open. Ajar, if you will, I came in to check if everything was okay. How did he...” But Five had already turned heel, and busied himself checking every corner of their home, frantically turning every pile of dirty clothes, riffling through his own notebooks, checking behind the cumulus and under the sink.

“Five ?” Luther asked in confusion.

“Who was supposed to lock the door ?” He answered, never stopping his search.

“I did,” Vanya said from her spot on the floor, following Five with her eyes. Five whipped around, and teleported right in her face. He grabbed her by the shoulders, his face an inch from hers, his gaze piercing.

“It's really important, Vanya. Tell me if you're not sure. Think hard.”

“I assure you, I did,” she said, trying to back away from him. “I double-checked like you told us to do everytime.” Five let her go, straightened up and slicked his hair back.

“Shit,” he said, before disappearing.

“Did I miss something ?” Luther said.

“What was that all about ?” Diego said at the same time. The two of them looked at each other, before coming to the same conclusion.

“The commission,” they stated in unison, nodding at each other proudly. Ben sighed, suddenly out of energy, and downed the glass of water he was still holding.

 

“So, huh,” Lupo hesitated, “May I ask how he died ? I'm actually a detective, it might concern me.” He uselessly pointed at Klaus. Ben winced, and saw the others do as well. He'd hear about it eventually anyway, right ? Might as well be from their perspective. Unconspicuously, Luther headed to the sink, and started washing his hands as if he wasn't getting rid of evidence in front of a police officer. Well, the guy was already dead when he pulverised his head, so did it count ? Lupo wasn't looking at him anyway. He was inching toward Klaus and Ben, inspecting the blood that pooled around them both.

“A druggie shot him in the head.” Ben answered matter-of-factly.

“Do you have any idea why ?” Lupo crouched next to Klaus, softly moved his head to the side and frowned at the bits of brain stuck in his hair. He muttered under his breath, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Yeah, he...” Ben sighed. Should he tell him the whole, unadultered truth ? Underage protitution was kind of frowned upon, and even slightly illegal. Would the detective try something ? Welp ; The truth would come out eventually. “The guy got caught by his wife.” He said, arranging the rest of the sentence in his head. “She caught him paying for his services.” There, it was out, said with grace and tact. Lupo frowned even more, if it was possible. He turned to Ben ever so slightly.

“Sorry, I'm afraid I understand. What kind of services ?” Ben looked at him with veiled eyes, a facade of ennui hiding the panic rising in his chest.

“The sexual kind.”

“Someone said 'sexual' ?” Klaus slurred without opening his eyes, giggling like an idiot.

“Go back to sleep, you dork,” Ben flicked him on the shoulder. Lupo raised an eyebrow, the rest of his face still crunched up.

“So, let me get this straight...” And Klaus snorted before covering his mouth with a hand.

“He said straight !” Klaus burst in laughter. Lupo looked at Ben like he had three heads, and Ben pursed his lips and shrugged.

“He gets like that when he just had his brain explode.” Lupo blinked a few times, head cocked to the side, trying to process all of it.

“So,” he said slowly, “That's how you earn your money ? By prostituting yourselves ?” He had a strange expression Ben had rarely seen. What was it ? He'd seen Allison use it, yes. The 'concerned mom look'. Well, the concerned dad look, in his case.

“To be fair,” Luther interjected, “he did that unprompted, and we'd have stopped him if we'd known.”

“We. Knew.” Jamin snapped. “And. We. Did. Nothing.” Ben closed Their eyes, took a deep breath, and let Them settle back down.

“Not helpful,” he whispered, before opening his eyes again. Although he agreed with that statement, now was not a good time to dwell in self pity. “That's how he survived on his own, he can't just dismiss fifteen years of survival instincts in a few days.” His voice was firm, and looked Lupo with the sternest expression he could muster. The detective rubbed his face in defeat.

“I keep forgetting you're all 'thirty'.” He said the last word like he didn't quiete believe it anyway.

“Hey~,” Klaus said, finally opening his eyes. “ Can I get, huh... some tequila ?”

“Klaus...” Ben sighed, shook his head.

“Jus' a shot ? Pleaaase ? My head's killin' me.”

“No, dude, you're...”

But then all their attention got caught by the sudden reappearance of Five. He stood on the back of a huge guy, who was held face down on the ground, grunting and struggling under their brother's grip. Five had a knife to his throat, the one he'd used to kill the other druggie, and all his weight on his captive's arms.

“Who the fuck are you, and why are you lurking around my house ?” Five demanded in a bone chilling voice.

 


	26. Doug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, that chapter did NOT inspire me at all. But well.   
> Oh, and I went to a 'comic-con' today and met someone cosplayed as Klaus ! :D Full on laced up leather pants and feathery pink boa

“Whoa whoa whoa !” Lupo exclaimed, running up to the newcommers. “How about not commiting a crime in front of a detective ?” He asked, sounding almost jaded. Five didn't let go of the man, but he moved the knife slowly away from his throat. He turned murderous eyes toward the detective, and Ben could swear he was this close to showing his teeth and growl. He didn't.

“Answer me,” he said instead, turning back to the guy.

“Fuck ya, ya fuckin' goblin !” The man shouted with a thick accent that sent a chill down Ben's spine.

“Ow !” He cried when Five put more pressure on his bent arms. The guy was facing away from Ben, but he knew. He knew him, and it wasn't good that he was here.

“Doug,” he breathed out. And Doug turned around. It was him.

“Doug ?” Klaus asked, completely unaware of what was hapenning behind him, mind still jumbled up.

“The same Doug from the other night ?” Five asked, pushing Doug's head into the ground just as he tried to lift it.

“How the fuck d'you know me name, you fuckin'- Ow !” He finished as Five bent his shoulder a bit farther.

“Doug of Doug and the gang ?” Lupo asked, suddenly less interested in stopping Five from hurting him. “What are you doing here ?”

“Fuck y'all !” Doug spat out. Ben felt Klaus' hand squeeze his arm. He looked terrified, so he grabbed him up from the floor, and hugged him tightly. The detective had put his badge right in Doug's face.

“Maybe you want to reconsider your answer ?”

“I want a lawyer !” Doug sneered, an arrogant grin stretching his features.

“Well, I can't help you anymore, sorry kids.” Lupo threw his hands up in an exaggerated shrug. Five glared at him, slowly moving his knife closer to Doug's throat, gauging the detective's reaction. He didn't react. Or to be more precise, he headed toward the exit. “I think I'm gonna leave, now.” And he did. What kind of detective was he exactly ?

“What the fuck ?” Doug exclaimed, face pressed on the floor.

“Now,” Five said, his voice seeping venom, and his knife pressing against Doug's jugular. “What were you doing in my house ?” A second passed, and Five thrust the knife further, making his target bleed and yelp out.

“Okay okay !” He cried, “A guy from me crew saw you were speakin' to Damien when he bashed his head in, so I wanted to keep an eye on y'all !” He cringed away from the knife's touch, eyes shut and teeth clenched.

“And what were you planning to do to us ?” Ben asked, trying to keep a calm, assured facade.

“I dunno, jus'...” He started, frantic.

“Don't fuck with us, we know what you do for a living, pedo.” And suddenly Doug's demeanor changed ; He turned hungry eyes toward Ben, and a shiver went down Their spine.

“Ay, ain't ye a lil' brainiac ? But y'now wha' ? Your kind's me favorite, right after that sissy brother of yours.” He nudged his head toward Klaus, like that wasn't useless. And well, it was his mistake really. Ben didn't have time to rein Jamin in, didn't really care to either.

The memory of Klaus, beaten and naked, bloody and shivering on the floor flashed in the brain. A memory from when They were dead. And in that memory, Doug was standing in front of Klaus with those same hungry eyes and disgusting smile. Their vision faded into a tunnel, and four tentacles were taking a hold of each of Doug's limbs before They even thought about it. A fifth one curled around his throat and squeezed. Five jumped off his back and reappeared not too far on Their right. 

“You.” Jamin's voices rumbled like thunder.

“Wha- What dafuck ?” Doug stammered, his form trying to squirm away from Them. They didn't know what else to say. A low growl rolled at the back of the throat, and the body tensed up. The prey cried for help, fear made him soil his clothes. 

“Don't kill him,” Five whispered to Their ear, not actually trying to stop Them. Jamin didn't enjoy useless violence. But protecting Klaus was another matter. They raised the prey up from the floor, and he was crying now, screaming in terror and pain because They were pulling at his limbs and They almost didn't care to not actually tear him appart. 

“Alright, I- I think that's enough now,” Allison tempered, appearing in Their field of vision with her hands raised in front of her. “I think you can put him down.” They didn't want to at first. But They did anyway, because Allison sounded desperate, and because Klaus tugged at Their shirt, mumbling under his breath, confused and dazed.

They dropped Doug to the floor, but didn't retract the tentacles right away. Five walked in between them, his arms crossed and his back turned on Jamin.

“So here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna tell your gang... No, you know what ? You're gonna tell everyone you know that my siblings and I, and this whole goddamn home are off limit.” He crouched right next to the man, still trembling on the floor, snivelling and begging incomprehensibly. “And know that my brother the tentacle monster is the least dangerous of all of us.” To highlight his statement, he sliced Doug's wet cheek slowly, with cold and precise dexterity. “Oh, and if you're thinking of sending your ennemies here, I'll know and you'll be the one to die. Understood ?” Doug nodded frantically, unable to say anything between two snotty sobs. 

At that, The Boy grabbed the man by the collar, and both disappeared in a 'pop'.

“Alright,” Diego said, “who crossed a black cat, because I feel like we're drawing all the bad luck of the world on us lately.” 

“I like cats !” Klaus blurted out.

 

 

 


	27. Cooldown

“We were gonna live in the countryside.” Klaus had slid his head down Ben's lap and curled in a ball.

“What ?” Diego sighed, rubbing his face and pacing along the bannister. “What's he talking about ?” Ben looked down at Klaus ; His eyes were closed, and he hummed absent-mindedly to an old tune. He might have already forgotten what he'd just said.

“Did Dave like cats ?” Ben asked softly. He already knew the answer, he'd been there, but any escuse to make Klaus talk right now was good.

“Did Dave like cats,” Klaus snorted, badly imitating Ben. “Yes, Dave likes himself, yes.” His head swayed back and forth on Ben's lap.

“Oh.” Ben said. Now he understood. “You like Katz...” Yes, he wasn't talking about cats. Of course.

“No shit, Sher... Sherrr~ what's-his-face...” He mumbled at the end. “Ben addict...” He started to giggle, “Cumm...” And he burst in laughter again. Ben closed his eyes, sighed audibly, and shrugged when he crossed Diego's puzzled look.

Five didn't come back right away. He probably went to follow Doug around. Vanya got up at some point, grabbed a mop and busied herself cleaning Klaus' blood and brain off the floor. Luther helped her a bit before going back to take a shower ; He was covered in blood, and it was a good idea to clean it off before the police might arrive.

There were two people dead around them. How would they explain away this one though ? His head spontaneously exploded ? An invisible anvill fell from the sky ? Diego busied himself with the stove, boiling water and preparing their mugs with whatever each of them preferred to drink. Allison sat next to Ben, and stroked Klaus' hair absently, carefully avoiding the drying blood and brain, her gaze on her brother but her mind somewhere else. Klaus was humming in pleasure, a content smile on his face.

“How many people want to hurt you ?” Allison whispered to herself. When Vanya was done with cleaning and put the mop away, she sat on the other side of Ben. Luther was back as well, clean and with new clothes on and his old ones nowhere in sight. Diego was done with his beverage preparations, and had handed everyone their mugs.

“Is he gonna be okay ?” Vanya asked softly, leaning her shoulder on Ben's. “Did that happen before ? I mean, the... the bullet to the head thing... He doesn't seem too well.”

“Don't worry, he'll be okay,” Ben replied, sweet as he could. “It did.” He added after while. “It did already happen. During the war.”

“You were with him over there ?” Luther asked. “How does that work, you weren't born, so surely you weren't dead yet, your ghost didn't exist back there, and...”

“I was holding his shoulder when he used the briefcase.”

“Oh.”

“Benny the chimp on my shoulder,” Klaus sang. “Geddit ? 'cos of the drugs ?” He snickered.

“You're thinking of a monkey on your back, you idiot.”

“A monkey ? Luther's on my back ?” He laughed.

“How was it ? The war, I mean.” Luther asked, ignoring Klaus' ramble.

“Loud !” Klaus exclaimed. “So fucking loud...” he sighed. “The choppers and the bullets, the crying injured, the landmines, the grenades, and those fucking sicada things at night, ugh!” They all held their breath, waiting for more. “ And the fucking ghosts.”

“Who's Dave ?” Allison inquired when it was obvious Klaus wouldn't say more unprompted. He smiled.

“The most beautiful person I've ever met. And so funny and strong and sweet. We were gonna live in the countryside...” His smile turned upside down, and a tear rolled off his cheek. He curled on himself a bit more, hiding his face in his hands, crying silently. Ben looked at Allison, who was gripping his arm painfully at this point. She mouthed 'What do I do ?'

“Hey, wanna tell everyone a bit about the 173rd ?” Klaus sniffed, uncurled a little, opened his eyes for a second, looking at nothing in particular.

“The boys were fun. We had good times in town. Even had a collective tattoo. Don't remember it though...” He closed his eyes again, rubbed his shoulder where the airborne brigade's tatto should have been.

He grinned a little, and started telling the story of 'The week of the great debacle' as it was named by the other soldiers. Ben helped filling the gaps Klaus let in his retelling. Five popped back a few minutes into the story, frowned and sat without a word, and listened.

 

* * *

 

Klaus was a great soldier, thanks to Daddy Reggie ; He had the training, the discipline, and now fifteen comrades at his side, counting on him to defend them, and them to defend him. In short, the confidence and trust he'd always needed to be efficient. Reggie MacDouche would have burst a vessel if he'd known Klaus just needed a bit of confidence and love to be the best soldier he could have hoped for.

Everyone was drugged out over there, the new recruits to ease their nerves, the old ones, well, for the same reason really. Alcohol and joints were flooding their tents, ecstasy and LSD their poker nights' currency. So really, Klaus felt at home. And Dave of course, Dave was the main reason he didn't even think about leaving.

Klaus had told everyone about his powers. He was too high all the time to even think about... Think at all. The stories of their childhood flooded the 173rd's tent, grunts and headshakes accompannying his tales of their trainings, unsure chuckles accompanied the ones about their powers. Of course they couldn't just believe Klaus when he told them about the ghosts and the teleportation and Ben's tentacles and Allison's hold on people's minds and the merman brother. Of course they couldn't believe he came from the futur. He was too high all the time to prove any of it anyway, too high and too drunk to actually be taken seriously.

But then, around the third month in, the chopper that should have sent the provisions got shot down, destroying everything in it ; The new recruits, for a start. And the food, the letters from their families, the ammunition, the medicine, the alcohol, the drugs...

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, you might have guessed already, next chapter will be a little different. I'm gonna experiment on a bit of flashbacking. If I enjoy writing them, and you enjoy reading them, maybe I'll write more of those in futur chapters.


	28. The week of the great debacle, pt 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I don't know how to write about romance. And I know nothing of the army. The flashback will be a bit longer than expected (It needed more contexte than I thought, and it turned into an excuse to do something a bit different. It's not strictly Klaus' POV, not strictly Ben's POV. A bit of both I guess, so, yeah, I don't know where I'm going with that sentence...) Anyway, enjoy :)

As soon as the chopper blew up, everything was rationned. Food got cut down, alcohol was hidden and hoarded, medicine and drugs witheld for emergency use only. And Klaus was in the medic tent as soon as every other tent had been swept up. Jenkins, one of the medics, was working on Moore's bleeding leg, shaking his head at Klaus' frantic pleading.

“You don't get it, Danny, it _is_ an emergency ! I can't fight in an empty stomach ! I told you about the ghosts, right ? I won't be able to tell who's dead and who's not ! How can I...”

“Hargreeves !” The medic cut Klaus' ranting short, “This is serious, me might have to make do with what we have left for at least a month, if not more ! Stop this... Whatever this is.” Klaus shook his head, rubbed his arm nervously.

“I'm very serious, Danny D, come on. Remember when I told y'all about Barry and Bubba's ghosts, the guys that died a few days before I arrived, the ones that exploded on a landmine, yeah ?”

“Stop it ! Get out, Klaus, or I'll have to call the sarge. I'm actually serious.” He stopped sewing up Moore's leg to stare at Klaus sternly, daring him to say anything else. Klaus whimpered, but finally caved in and turned heel.

The last pill he'd taken would keep the ghosts away for maybe an hour, two if he was extremely lucky. Maybe they'd overlooked something in their tents, maybe he could find it, he was very good at finding drugs. He turned every cot upside down, emptied everyone's trunk on the floor, grunting as time passed and he felt his muscles tense up slowly, nausea settling in. He wasn't dreading the withdrawal as much as the ghosts though. He was in an active warzone, and in less than a couple hours, he'd trully be in hell. For now, Corporal Cook entered the devastated tent, but Klaus was too occupied by his search to notice him.

“What the hell is going on in here, Hargreeves ?” He yelled so loud surely everyone in a ten mile radius heard him. Klaus, for one, jumped out of his skin and then up on his feet. His heart tried to escape his body as he saluted his superior, and realised what he'd done.

“Sir, I can explain ! Surely I told you about the ghosts, yeah ?”

“Hargreeves !” The corporal boomed, shutting Klaus up immediately. “This mess better be gone when I come back in fifteen minutes,” he said in his bone chilling voice before leaving without another word.

Klaus thanked the bitchy goddess for Cook's soft spot for him, and went on to hurriedly tidy everything up, his search for drugs forgotten. For now.

When lunch time arrived, Klaus was shivering and pacing at the edge of camp, hugging himself and trying very hard to ignore the hundreds of bloody and dismembered soldiers crying and pleading for their lost lives. He didn't even notice Dave approaching, and flinched like a scared cat when the man touched his shoulder. He untensed as soon as he turned to him.

“Davey !” He sighed in relief, fighting his urge to melt into his embrace ; He'd slipped up one too many times, and Dave had had to tell him off for putting both their lives in danger. “You come bearing gifts !” He said, taking the offered food ration Dave had brought him. They sat down next to each other, not too close to attract suspicion though.

“Klaus, are you alright ?” Dave asked, his worried eyes melting Klaus' heart a bit more.

“Yeah, I'm fine, Davey dear,” he said at first, waving his hand in dismissal. But Dave had a way of lowering Klaus' guard, of making him want to pour his heart out to this beautiful and generous man. He swallowed hard, drew his knees closer. “I'm- There's this thing about me, yeah ?” He started. He hesitated talking about it, because what if Dave didn't believe him, like the others ? What if he got angry and left because he thought Klaus was lying to him ? “The- You know, the ghosts...” He almost whispered, half hoping he didn't hear him above their screams.

“Yeah, you told us about them. What about it ?” Dave seemed genuinelly curious. At least it was better than straight up dismissal.

“I keep them at bay with the drugs usually, but I've run out, and Jenkins won't give me any, so now I'm- They're all coming back.” His voice cracked at the end of his sentence. “There's so many, Davey,” He tore up, “I can't do it again, not again, not...” he cried hysterically, swaying back and forth. Sure, Ben was trying his best to support him, but there was only so much he could do as a ghost.

“Klaus,” Dave said solemnly, trying to hide the concern bubbling up in his chest. He put his arm around Klaus' shoulders, and drew him as close as he dared. “I'm here for you, tell me- tell me what I can do to help.” Klaus shrugged, head in his hands, soaking up as much comfort from Dave's touch as he could.

“Unless you have some drugs left, just- let's stay like this until- forever would be good.” Dave chuckled, and drew Klaus closer.

 

They were sent on a reconnaissance mission that afternoon. Klaus had pleaded his case as long as he could, but the sergeant's patience ran short eventually.

“Sir, you can't send me on a reconnaissance mission, I can barely tell who's dead and who's alive in here, how am I...”

“Not another word, Hargreeves.” Sergeant Benett ordered. “Keep your stories for free time. Now go before I put you on confinement.” That shut Klaus right up. There was no way his sanity would endure isolation, even less right now. The sergeant knew that it was the only threat Hargreeves took seriously.

So Klaus went on that mission, trailed behind his comrades, kept his eyes firmly locked on Murphy's bagpack, ignored all the screaming around him, the tremors in his muscles and the rising nausea threatening to make him puke any second now.

 

Back at camp, they were dismissed to their personal quarters. The rest of the tent played poker, cards laid on three trunks pushed together, the six soldiers pressing against each other on the floor to reach the playing field. Klaus wasn't in the mindframe to play anything right now. He paced anxiously up and down the tight alley between their cots, bit his nails fervently, sweating buckets and mumbling to the air. He'd already burned the three cigarettes he'd been given. His comrades didn't pay him too much attention ; They were used to seeing fellow soldiers withdrawing from the drugs.

It wasn't until Klaus dived down, crouching between the tent wall and a cot, holding his head in his hands and screaming on top of his lungs that they reacted. They all played rock paper scisor to know who'd go. Usually it was easier, Dave went without hesitation, but he was still reporting their afternoon mission. Brown lost, so he got up.

“Fuck off ! Fuck off ! I can't help you ! You're already dead, fuck off ! Leave me alone, leave me...”

“Hey, Hargreeves,” he called out a bit forcefully, shaking Klaus by the shoulders.

“Please, don't leave me in here, Father please ! I'll do better, I swear, don't leave me here, please...” No amount of shoulder shaking or yelling brought him out of his frenzy.

“Go find Jenkins !” Brown ordered one of the guys, still trying to snap his crying comrade from his panic attack. Those were common around here, but they usually concerned something they all knew about ; the war and the death. Daddy issues were rarely mentionned, and Brown had no idea what to do.

Jenkins didn't know what to do either. Klaus was prostrated on the floor, hugging himself, looking at nothing in front of him, his mouth moving slightly to an inaudible litany. It was finally when Dave arrived that he took him in his arms, ignoring every survival instinct that screamed in his brain to not hold him so close, and squeezed Klaus' form until well past lights out. They fell asleep like that.

 


	29. The week of the great debacle pt 2

In the morning, Klaus shot up from his own cot screaming and thrashing against nothing to everyone else's knowledge but him. Hundreds of ghost were now thousands, all crowding on top of him, all begging for attention, all crying and yelling and screeching, all bleeding and rotting and burning. Klaus used an arm as a shield for his face, and plowed through the intangible, invisible mass and out of the camp, ran straight into the forest until the screaming subsided a bit. He slid down a tree, shaking and crying, trying to stop his heart from trying to escape through his throat.

“Klaus, you need to breath for me, can you do that ?” Ben said patiently.

 

He was finally brought back to camp half an hour later by a frantic Dave.

“Don't you think there's more to it than drugs ?” He asked Jenkins when they came back. Klaus had struggled against him when he'd tried to push him toward their tent, and now he sat on his cot, his eyes to the ground, shivering and pleading softly to 'leave him alone'.

“You know what ? It looks to me like he's off his rockers.The only thing to do is report him, and he'll be sent home when the next chopper comes.” Dave frowned at the prospect of losing Klaus.

“No, I mean, about the stories he always tells. What if it's... What if it's true. To him at least ? Just give him something, he'll be fine.”

“Katz, you know I can't hand pills around to anyone who asks. We have to keep it for emergencies. He'll just have to hold on until the next shipment arrives.”

“But look at him !” Dave argued, angrily gesturing at Klaus' unresponsive form. “It's obvious he can't function without drugs ! Surely it's an emergency, right ?”

“No Katz, he'll just have to go through withdrawal like every other soldier around here.” On that, Jenkins turned around and started to walk away.

“You know it's not the same, Jenkins ! Klaus is on another level of addiction, you can't let him quit cold turkey like that ! You said it, not me !” The medic waved without looking back.

“He doesn't have a choice.”

“For fuck's sake !” Dave hissed to himself.

“Davey, it's alright, I'll be fine,” Klaus said from his spot, slowly lying down with a painful expression on his face.

He kept shivering and sweating, and eventually began puking with each whole-body spasms that shook him. Silent tears ran on his face. His usually pale skin was now grey and sickly, covered in a layer of dirt and burning to the touch. Jenkins denied him a place in the medic tent when Dave had gone to him.

“For god's sake, Dave, he's in withdrawal, he'll be fine. We need the beds for actually hurt soldiers.”

 

It went on like that for the next few days. Klaus wasn't sleeping per se, more like passing out from exhaustion at any moment during the day. At least, the sergeant though better than send him on missions, and allowed Dave, the only one that actually wanted to take care of him, to stay by his side. The panic attacks got more frequent, more violent, more painful to hear and watch. Dave felt like Ben, powerless to do anything. Klaus eventually lost his voice from the screaming and pleading for some peace and quiet, pleading apology after apology, pleading they leave him alone and just stop screaming, please ! The other soldiers got restless as well. It was impossible to sleep with Klaus thrashing around and crying all night. It was impossible to have a quiet moment to mourn their dead comrades that had died that day, impossible to ignore the way Klaus knew before they said anything when they came back from a mission with one less comrade.

“Murphy, I'm sorry, I- I can't help you,” he'd sighed in defeat. “Please, please, leave me alone, Murphy, I beg you...” They all looked at each other, and it was that night that they started to doubt. Could it really... They began to actually listen to Klaus' ranting. They remembered every story he'd told.

 

But then on the fourth day of Klaus' forced sobriety, they all stopped doubting, didn't really have a choice anymore. It started slowly. Whispers between soldiers.

“Don't wanna sound too crazy, but I swear I saw Barry walk past me just a minute ago.”

“Didn't Chester explode on a landmine the other day ? Because he was sitting there smoking a joint during lunch.”

“Did the viets gas us ? There was some half carbonised corpse just standing there...”

And if anyone but Dave could still stand to stay in the same room as a delirious, feverish, puking Klaus, they'd have witnessed his hands glow blue and Murphy's ghost standing there, asking Klaus' help. And they'd have met Ben.

“Hello, Dave,” He said softly. “I'm Klaus' brother, Ben.”

“Whe- Where do you come from ?” Dave answered, gripping Klaus' hands tightly, fighting every fiber of his body to stay put and not run away.

“Oh, I'm always around. But something's going on with Klaus' powers, I think.”

“You- You're the- the dead one, the tentacles one...” Ben looked at him with a half smile.

“Yeah...”

And then screaming rose up from all around camp. A shot fired, followed by another. Suddenly, it was chaos outside of the tent. Dave reluctantly let go of Klaus to go take a look.

 

Outside, hell on earth. Hundreds of screaming blue silhouets, half burned corpses, melting carcasses of women and children wailing, soldiers standing there, seemingly okay until you spotted the hole in their chest or their head. A little girl turned toward Dave. She pointed a half destroyed arm at him, but she looked over him. With a hole instead of a mouth, Dave struggled to understand what she said at first.

“Klaus,” she was repeating, “Klaus. Klaus.” Slowly, the other corpses, no, the ghosts, turned around too. They started approaching, chanting Klaus' name, yelling angry insults and demanding retribution for their death.

“Dave,” Ben said next to the man still standing between the angry spirits and Klaus. “You should move out of their way.”

“N-No,” He answered weakly. But when the girl reached to him and what was left of her fingers brushed his hands, every hair of his body stood up. _She'd touched him,_ and now he scrambled away and threw up at the foot of the nearest tree.

 


	30. The week of the great debacle pt 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I'm having too much fun with this flashback. I was sure it would end this chapter, but well...

Klaus didn't know that he'd just unleashed the ghosts into the tangible world. He was too busy trying to drown their screams out. Oh, how he missed his headphones and MP3 right now.

“Klaus ! Klaus !” Hundreds of voices screamed all around him. God herself could be trying to get his attention right now, and he'd be none the wiser. The nausea made him gag, but he had nothing to throw up anymore. He'd stopped crying a while ago, simply laid there, eyes shut tight and hands over ears. He hadn't noticed neither Ben nor Dave were there, kept mumbling apologies to the angry spirits. The gunshots didn't phase him.

It's only when something cold and wet brushed his arm that he reacted. In front of his face, half a little burned girl stared at him with empty eye sockets. A few dangling fingers rested on his arm. His brain took a second to react.

“Klaus. Help.”

“No...” he whimpered. “No nonononono...” He couldn't bare another round of this. The mausoleum had been enough. “Ben ?” He looked around, tried to avoid the dozens of destroyed gazes. Everything was spinning, he couldn't breathe, he had to get out of here ! “Dave ?” He staggered up, tried to plow through the spirits to get the hell out. At first they didn't budge, formed an unmoving wall of cold, angry burning flesh. Klaus was going to die. They were reaching, clawing, grabbing, scratching, squeezing him. It hurt so much.

_He couldn't breathe._

Finally, the adrenaline surged in, and he forced his way out, pushing away the ghosts like a battering ram.

 

“Dave, get a hold of it, you need to help Klaus.” Ben tried to talk calmly, but when he saw the girl touch Dave, an actual chill went down his spine. It was one thing to be visible to everyone, but to be tangible as well ? To be absolutely sure, he reached Dave's shoulder with a slow and shaky hand. And he _touched_ him. He needed to find Klaus. Now.

“Klaus. Klaus. Klaus...” Discordant voices chanted all around, filling the air with his brother's name.

But he hesitated. Yes, he needed to find Klaus, but what good could he do ? With Dave, on the other hand, he had a chance to find a way to help. If the soldier would regain his composure.

“Dave !” Ben shouted over the screaming ghosts, trying to get his attention. Terrified blue eyes turned to him, then settled on the hand on his shoulder. Ben took it off, and a step back. “Klaus' in danger. You need to find the medic tent.”

“Klaus. Klaus. Klaus...”

“Wh-Why ?” He stammered, but got a trembling move on nonetheless. Ben did his best to push a way through the other ghosts, grunting from the actual effort.

“Isn't it obvious ? You need to find him some drugs !”

 

The other soldiers had recounted their side of the incident later on with shaky voices and terror in their eyes.

Sergeant Benett was in his tent, filing reports and sighing in a glass of whiskey. This war was meaningless. If he hadn't been sure at the beginning, he was now. He didn't notice the screaming right away, it had amplified gradually, and he was lost in paperwork.

“Klaus. Klaus. Klaus...” A faint rumor reached into the tent. But when the first bullet flew, he was on his feet instantly. And he was greeted by four soldiers staring at him, standing in front of the closed exit.

“Soldiers, what's the meaning of this commotion ?” They didn't react, didn't salute, didn't answer. “Wh-” Benett started, but he noticed the blue shimmer around the four guys. And a patch of blood caught his attention. The one on the left had a hole in his chest, oozing blood and mushed muscle. The other three had similar wounds, and how did he miss the _intestines_ ? And their eyes, hollow and _dead_. He'd seen enough corpses to know. Those four soldiers were dead. How did they stand there ? A stupid idea floated in his mind. _'I can barely tell who's dead and who's alive in here',_ Hargreeves had said. “Soldiers, move aside,” He ordered the dead. They didn't move. “What do you want ?”

“Klaus,” They roared in unison, making Benett step back just as he was about to reach one of them. So there was something about Hargreeves. He needed to get out of the tent, but the four men stood in front of the exit. If they were ghosts, maybe he could pass through. But the mere thought of touching them made him shiver.

“Why don't you go find him ?” That's when they moved. The one with the exposed bowels reached out a hand, hissing and grunting, and Benett shot him in the head. It passed through, but the ghost dissipated in a cloud of smoke that enraged the other spirits. Three other bullets, and Benett was out of the tent. Maybe he should've stayed in it though.

 

“Klaus. Klaus. Klaus...”

Brown was lost. Lost in the middle of a forest of glowing limbs, scorched flesh, dripping blood, screaming murder. He was so tired, but he couldn't stop. If he did, they would tear him apart. He had already shot every bullet he had on him, dissipating a few of the angry spirits. But there were so much ! Where was he ? He wondered how Klaus was still sane if what he'd told them was true, if he saw this on a daily basis, if he lived with this since he was born...

“Klaus. Klaus. Klaus...” The spirits were hissing angrily.

He didn't pay enough attention, and tripped down in the mud. They would stomp him to death, catch him and tear him limb from limb. He fruitlessly hid his head with his arms, curled up in a ball, and waited for his end.

It didn't come. The ghosts did step on him, but they were strangely weightless, marching forth in the same direction, not paying attention to him at all.

“Klaus. Klaus. Klaus...”

“Brown, get up.” He knew that voice. He knew that voice and he didn't want to look up. He knew that voice, it was Murphy's voice. But Murphy was dead. He'd died in front of him the other day. He looked up. “Come on, I know where the others are.” Murphy reached his hand out, waiting for him to hold it. Murphy's face was blown off, only his mouth seemed intact. His voice was the same, deep and soft and reassuring. Klaus had begged him to leave him alone when they'd come back from the mission. And now Brown understood why. Murphy's face was blown off. _Murphy's face was blown off !_ “Let's go, idiot.” Brown took Murphy's cold hand and got up.

 

Lopez and King were cornered. In their back, a pile of empty wood crates ensured their safety. On each side, tent walls  that sometimes got pushed toward them by what could ony be hands, dozens of them, and it was scarier than anything they'd seen until then.

“Klaus. Klaus. Klaus...”

The ghosts didn't pay attention to them, marched toward a single direction. Was it toward Hargreeves ? Was he in danger ? Of course he was. They had to do something. But their legs didn't move, their arms, interlocked into eachother, refused to move.

“We- we have to help Hargreeves,” Lopez stuttered, hoping King would refuse.

“What the hell are we supposed to do, twat ?” Yeah, there was no way any of them could do anything. Maybe if they just waited it out, it would resolve itself. Yeah.

“Klaus. Klaus. Klaus...”

The gunshots had died down pretty quickly. Every bullet had been fired away. So when the four shots filled the air around them, they flinched and covered their ears. Those had been awfully close.

Too close. Smoke rose from somewhere between them.

“King, do you... King ?” In his arms, King went limp, hot blood rushing onto his vest.

“Lopez ?” King said, standing a few feet in front of him, a blue shimmer around his body and a bullet hole oozing blood in his chest.

 

 


	31. The week of the great debacle pt 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, the next one for sure will be the last part. Mmh...
> 
> Thank you all for you comments ! I don't reply as much as before, but that's because I don't know what to say. Still read everything though !

Corporal Cook, medic Jenkins and private Moore were holed up in the medic tent. With much disgust and terror, they managed to push out the ghosts of their own comrades, the ones that had died right here, most of them under Jenkin's care. Moore, supporting himself on a crutch, helped the other two barricade the entrance. It's only when they were done that they started wondering what the hell was going on. They didn't have to wonder for too long.

“It's Hargreeves ! It's freaking Hargreeves and his freaking ghosts ! You should have given him the goddamn drugs, for god's sake, we're all going to die, we're...”

“Moore !” The corporal snapped. “Calm down, for god's sake !” Of course they all thought the same. But freaking out wasn't going to help. “We need to think of a plan...”

“Open up !” A familiar voice called from outside. A familiar voice that everyone had grieved a few days ago. The three soldiers' blood ran cold as they all looked at each other, trying not to loose their minds. “Come on, Brown's with me !” Brown wasn't dead. Brown wasn't dead, this was a trick from the spirits, they wouldn't get tricked, not under Cook's care.

“Guys !” Brown's hysterical voice reached out. “Guys, please !”

“Brown...” Moore said, before launching himself at their barricade. Cook reached him just as he began tearing it off.

“Moore, don't let the spirits trick you ! Jenkins, help !” The both of them tore Moore from the barricade, and held him down while he calmed a little.

“Corporal ?” Murphy's voice called out, and it tore Cook appart hearing his voice. “Corporal, I know everything's weird right now, but you need to let Brown in at least ! I need to go look for the others !” He sounded a bit frantic, but he made the most sense out of everyone in the camp, probably.

“How do we know this isn't a trick from you spirit to kill us ?” He couldn't just open up like that, he had to protect the men he knew were alive with him.

“Corporal, I'm... I'm not sure of everything that's going on, but... The ghosts, they're... We're only after Klaus, there's something about him... They... We don't care about any of you guys ! Come on, let me help before I lose my mind and go after Klaus too !” It was a trick, it was a trick, it was a trick... “Please, boss,” Murphy pleaded.

Reluctantly, they undid their barrier, and pushed up the tent's door ever so slightly, a gun ready to shoot. Brown was held up under the arms by Mur... What remained of Murphy. Cook'd read the report. It looked worse. But the mutilated ghost pushed Brown in his arms.

“Protect him. Ben's coming, I'm going to look for the others.” He turned heel, much to Cook's relief.

“Wait, who's Ben ?” But he was already gone.

 

Klaus probably died by now. He didn't know, didn't care. His body didn't even hurt anymore. The taste of blood and the smell of death was around him, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Maybe he was curled up on the floor, maybe he was at the bottom of a swamp. Who knew ? Certainly not him.

 

He came back though, holding a crying and snivelling Lopez, and a stunned looking King. A shimmering blue stunned looking King. Fuck. This time, the three of them entered the tent, and Cook shut the entrance behind them.

“King... You're... What happened ?” King wasn't answering. He stood there, staring at his own blood on Lopez' vest. He mumbled something, but it was hard to hear anything on top of the screaming and wailing from outside. Cook took a step closer.

“K-Klaus.” King was mumbling. “Klaus...” Shit. Fuck. The corporal turned to Murphy. He was silent, stayed back a bit.

“Murphy, what the hell is happening ? Who the hell is Ben ?”

“Klaus,” He whispered, before shaking his half a head. “Fuck,” he spat out. “He'll be coming soon, he know what's going on, we need to listent to him, Kl-” He interrupted himself, cursing behind a bloody hand. “Klaus.” He turned his head toward the exit, took a step and stopped. An unknown voice came from outside.

“Come on Dave !” Jenkins palced himself by the door, and was ready to shoot.

“Guys ?” Dave's voice shouted, frantic. “Guys, it's Katz !” Cook gestured at Jenkins to hold his position. He opened the tent flap, and sure enough, Dave stood there, looking frantically from side to side, a blue wall of light behind him. Cook took him by the shoulder and pulled him in. The other man next to his soldier took a step in, so Cook held his gun up. “Who the hell are you ?” He wasn't dressed like a soldier, he wasn't dressed like anything he'd ever seen before. Maybe he'd been a villager from around here. He held his hands up, and spoke in perfect english.

“I'm Klaus Hargreeves' dead brother. Let me in, we need to help him.”

“That's Ben !” Murphy yelled, suddenly out of his transe. “Let him in, corporal.”

 

“We need to get him some drugs,” Ben said to the small assembly. He looked around, stopped at Murphy and King's ghosts. They struggled to stay put. Even Ben had this nagging sensation at the back of his skull. He could sense Klaus, wanted to get to him, he was a blinding beacon and he needed to get there. But he ignored it. For one, he already wanted to get to his brothers, but it had nothing to do with his powers. He turned to Jenkins. “You're the medic, fetch something that hits hard and acts fast.”

“What the hell is going on ?” The corporal ordered. Ben turned to him, but before he answered, he shooed at Jenkins to get a move on.

“Klaus' powers to see the dead are running rampant because he's surrounded by more death than life, and the fact that he's been forced to get sober doesn't help.”

“You don't look dead,” Moore said desperately. Ben was once again keeping an eye on the two other ghosts, which were looking at the exit behind him.

“I've been dead for fifteen years and feeding on Klaus' powers. I can do a lot more than look alive.” And then he dived on King's moving form, wrestled with him for a second, and threw him back. The fresh spirit staggered then fell on his ass.

“Klaus !” He growled, getting back up.

“King,” Ben commanded, and King turned to him with angry eyes. “King, snap out of it. Klaus needs our help, not another angry ghost after him.” And King did snap out of it. His anger melted away, and a confused frown painted his traits.

“Wh- What's going on ?”

 


	32. The week of the great debacle finale part

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flashback done ! Give me your impressions ! I personnally had fun writing it, so I'll probably write others, but hey, your feedbacks are important too

While Jenkins looked about in the tent for some specific drug, Ben reached for what looked to him like shears ; They were bloody and tossed in the corner of the tent, right on the floor.  
“Tell me you don't use those on people,” he said with clear disgust, staring at the medic who turned to him.  
“How else are we supposed to cut bones ?” And he went back to his search. Ben sighed, and handed the shears to the corporal. Cook looked confused.  
“To defend yourself against them,” Ben told him, already turning to the nearest cot with a glint in his eyes.  
“What ? Are we... Are we supposed to go out there ?”  
“Yeah. We're going to find Klaus and dose him up.”

 

He'd backed himself in a corner. At least they couldn't come from behind anymore. His skin was on fire from all the scratches and cuts. He'd resigned to protect his face only, but it was enough. At least his beauty wouldn't suffer from this. The ghosts could suck it. If he wasn't litterally paralysed from shock, he would tell them so.

 

Benette wasn't sure why he decided to follow the ghosts. Maybe the fact that they all went the same way, chanting, screaming, screeching Hargreeves' name wasn't seating well with him. He'd followed them until they massed around each other and stopped going forward. Instead, they trampled each other over, clawing and crawling and climbing their way forward through the forms of burned and torn women, children and soldiers alike. There seemed to be no discrimination in death. Just as Benett was deciding on a way to cut his way through the blue mass, a voice behind him made him sigh in relief.

 

They were finally ready to go now ; Jenkins had prepared a syringe of heroin, which Ben had conflicting feelings about. On one hand, he was mortified that he was the one who'd bring the damn thing to Klaus. On the other hand, He had to tell Jenkins to tweak it up, because Klaus' resistance to the drug might be too high for the dose the medic had first prepared.  
Every soldier in the tent had an iron weapon ready to swing, four of which were brandishing the legs of a cot they'd torn apart.  
“Won't you take one ?” Corporal Cook asked Ben. To which Ben answered, smiling ;  
“Don't worry about me.”  
They got out of the tent in a formation Ben would qualify as useless. The ghosts were clearly and utterly uninterrested in them all, and kept moving toward where Ben knew for a fact Klaus was. They jogged across the whole camp and found themselves in front of a wall of ghosts. And standing at the foot of said wall, a tall, pondering figure.  
“Sergent !” Cook exclaimed, breaking their formation to run up to his superior. The sergent turned around with a relieved expression, which fell off when his gaze fell on Ben's blue outlines. And then he saw Murphy, and he turned livid. And then he saw King, and he opened his mouth, but nothing came out of it. “Sergent, we have to get to Hargreeves,” Cook explained.  
“Yeah, I gathered as much,” he answered, his eyes still locked on King's ghost. And King was staring as well. The blue shimmer around him glowed brighter by the second. Although Ben had never actually seen it, he knew what it was. The energy building around King was unmistakable. King had found his killer.  
“Fuck,” Ben breathed out, extended a hand to King. “Hey, man, we don't have time for revenge right now, I'm sorry. Klaus' in danger.” King didn't react right away. When he finally turned to Ben, his blue aura subsided a bit, and he seemed to struggle to stay focused.  
Ben looked around to his temporary comrades.  
“Alright, the plan is simple, you swing those weapons of yours around to dispel the most ghosts, and Jenkins, Dave and I will bring the syringe to Klaus.” Everyone agreed, and Ben nodded to Jenkins and Dave to follow him.  
“How are we gonna go past the...” But Jenkins didn't finish. Because Ben had summoned four tentacles into existance, and he moved forward into the mass of ghosts, plowing his way through like there was no tomorrow. Behind him, Dave followed, swinging his crowbar around to dispel the remaining ghosts on their path. Jenkins took a few seconds to react, but he finally did. It took them a surprinzingly long while to get close enough that the ghosts started to actually get violent. And Ben felt it too ; The energy radiating from Klaus. He understood why it would make any ghost go ballistic. That surge of power was intoxicating, almost uncontrolable. Fortunately, keeping the tentacles swinging was exhausting a lot of that energy, so Ben only mildly lost his mind as he approached closer and closer.  
At one point though, a particularly strong surge took him by surprise, and he caught himself thinking about how Klaus never made an effort to help him. He never tried to make him visible, never tried to let him speak to their siblings, never tried to...  
“Shit. What the fuck...” He snapped out of it, a knee falling to the ground. He couldn't get closer. He couldn't risk being a part of his brother's tormentors. Couldn't risk it.  
“You're okay ?” Dave yelled beside him above the screaming spirits, furiously dusting ghost upon ghost with his crowbar. Jenkins was doing the same on his other side.  
“I can't go closer !” He yelled back. “You'll have to go without me !”

They didn't hesitate, didn't question him. They simply moved forward, a lot slower now that Ben didn't open up their path with his belly-tentacles. Klaus had never lied about anything, and now Dave kind of wished he could meet Pogo the talking chimpanzee butler and their robot mother. Maybe he would one day.  
For now, the only important thing was to get to him. To save him. Dave was the Prince Charming to Klaus' Sleeping Beauty, and if anyone read his thoughts right about now, he would be killed on the spot. But he had loved watching that film with his little sister and had wondered if one day, he would find his own Prince. Turns out he was the Prince, and he loved the idea.  
So he swung his weapon with wild abandon, and they finally made it. But what he saw then, the limp form curled on the floor, turned his blood cold and made him want to puke again.  
“Klaus,” he whispered as he fell on his knees. “Klaus,” he said again, tears flowing down his face. “Klaus !” He exclaimed, his weapon long abandonned to the side and his hands shaking his very own princess. “Klaus, wake up !” His body was torn to shreds, bloody and scratched and barely moving. Klaus grunted lightly as Jenkins kneeled beside Dave.  
“Dave, you're gonna have to keep the ghosts away while I give him the drug !” Dave didn't want to abandon Klaus. Not when he'd finally found him. But he understood. And anyway, the ghosts were coming back fast. He got back up, swung blindly around him, his eyes locked on Klaus and Jenkins. He watched the medic take the frankly too big of a syringe out of his breast pocket. He watched him plunge the needle into Klaus' neck, because it was one of the only intact surfaces of his body. He watched the dark liquid disappear into Klaus's frail body. He watched him slowly uncurl, slowly relax. The atmosphere lost it's blue light as Klaus slipped further into a heroin induced bliss. The ghosts gone, Dave kneeled back down next to his bloody sleeping beauty. The other soldiers, minus Murphy and King, approached in stunned silence. In fact, the silence was what was stunning. Around them, the camp looked peaceful, empty, silent.  
“Let's agree to never deny him drugs ever again,” Sergent Benett huffed, covered in sweat, the bed-leg Murphy had been handed resting on his shoulder.


	33. Commentary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, it's not easy picking the story up after a flashback like this. But it's done ! Thanks to @happyraincloud for their brilliant idea !

“So you were high in the middle of the war ?” Luther said, incredulous. When Klaus had finished speaking, he stayed silent, eyes lost on the ceiling and maybe in the war still.

“I wasn't high, dear !” He exclaimed, arms shooting up, then falling back immediately. “I was stoned out of my mind,” he shuckled. “doped up. Tanked, hammered...” He let a second pass. “anaesthezz~... Meh.” He concluded, shrugging vaguely and closing his eyes. “Pretty sure they made a piggy bank of drugs after that... Jus' for me,” he giggled.

“So, hum,” Diego said, “What happened after that ?” Klaus wiggled in Ben's lap, grimaced under the effort of coming back into the conversation.

“Dunno... Can't recall...” Ben pursed his lips, eyes down on his brother's painful expression.

“Yeah, they kept you down under for a week after that day.” Klaus mouthed a curious 'oh ?', but he didn't say anything. “Everytime you woke up, you'd just scream your throat out and punch anyone who tried to touch you.” Klaus hummed, and Ben didn't look up to see the others' expressions. The deafening silence was enough of an indicator of the room's mood. Allison and Vanya's tightening grips on his arms also spoke volumes.

“Sounds like me...” Klaus breathed out. “Even Dave ?” He asked after a pause.

“Yeah.” He frowned again, pouted, then sighed and settled a bit more into Ben's lap.

 

When it was evident Klaus had fallen asleep, Ben finally looked up with a tired expression. Luther had his legs in his arms and his head in his knees. Diego, sitting on the stairs, looked above to the high windows, a hand under his chin. Five sat against the wall and tried to drill a hole in the floor with his eyes alone.

“How did he...” Vanya started. “Snap out of it ?” Ben glanced beside him to Vanya's curled form and puppy eyes.

“The same way he did after each time in the mausoleum. Or every other time life fucked him over.” Ben gave his sister a small smile and a shrug. “He woke up one day as if nothing happened, and never talked about it.” Even now, Ben had been the one to tell the end of the story. Klaus had fallen more and more silent as the story progressed. Still, it had been the longest he'd talked about anything. Even though Ben knew he'd only talked because his brain was still scrambled up.

“How was he treated ?” Allison asked after a long pause. “I mean, in the Sixties, with the-” she said, gesturing at the entirety on their brother, including his skirt and crop top, “-everything about him ?” Ben tilted his head to the side and pursed his lips.

“He got there with nothing but a bloody towel and a furcoat. You know, because of Cha-Cha and Hazel's torture ?” Five and Luther groaned at the same time, and Diego rubbed his face and a sighed 'Fuck'. “But I get what you mean. At first, I had to beg him to tone himself down. He didn't hear what the other soldiers were saying, and he's... Well, you know how annoyingly positive he gets.” Allison hummed and squirmed a bit, unneasy. Huh, maybe they didn't. They didn't know him as much as he did after all. “But one day Dave told him off. Dave had common sense of that time, see. He feared for both their lives.” Diego was glancing at Klaus with one eye, the rest of his face still hidden behind his hand. “I'd never seen Klaus so...” Ben looked for the right words to describe it. “So not himself.” Yes, those were the words. And he'd hated it. And Dave had hated it too, when he'd witnessed the shift in his whole demeanor.

And Klaus, well. He'd assured Dave he was fine because that's how he was, but Ben could see it. The disgust and sadness. During the worst of it, Ben made sure to engage him in whatever conversation would cheer him up, be it about make-up, fashion, art, or simply one tengeant or another the other soldiers would have frowned upon. Dave took over some of those conversations after a while, and only when he was sure noone was around. Ben had been look out during those times of theirs, and he'd only been too happy to do so.

“What did they have to say about the powers ?” Five crossed his arms and furrowed his brows, not exactly looking at Ben, not exactly looking at Klaus.

“Well, most of them were christians, so they already believed in life after death. Now that I think about it, it's good that he didn't remember meeting God until he came back. I don't think the soldiers would have taken it well...”

“Why is that ?” Vanya asked.

“Because she's a mean little girl.” He was met with uncomprehensive looks and tilted heads. And the inevitable question ;

“So ?”

“Come on guys, I know Father never taught us about religion, but surely you're aware.” Apparently they weren't. “God's supposed to be a kind old bearded guy ?”

“Oh ?” Luther said, utterly unphazed by the new information.

“What about it ?” Diego turned the palm of his hand to the ceiling with a frown.

“Huh-” Ben shrugged, not too sure either what he was trying to say. “I guess they don't- They don't like being told otherwise ?”

“Whatever,” Five shook his head after an awkward pause. “And the powers ?” Ben shrugged again, happy to change the subject.

“They were scared shitless for a while, but I mean, they liked Klaus, and he was a terrific soldier, and they made sure he stayed as drugged up as he wanted, so... They got used to the idea of it eventually.” Five hummed, got up, slicked his hair back.

“I need some air.” And he was gone.

 

After Five's departure, everyone kind of drifted to their own affairs, mostly chilling out around the room, digesting the new informations. An hour later, Detective Lupo came back with a stern expression.

“We need to talk.”

 

 

 

 


	34. Decisions, decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of dialogue in these last two chapters, and not a lot of action. I'll try to do something about it next one, but they live their own lives now, untethered by the laws of Me.

“We need to talk about the beheaded guy.” Luther had gotten up when Lupo arrived, but now, he made a point of looking away. “There are a few witnesses that saw you-” The detective looked around and frowned. “Your other brother stab him repeatedly and then you,” this time he looked at Luther, “Punch his head into mush. That's gonna be a bit hard to shrug off.”

“Alright but the witnesses also saw the guy shoot Klaus in the head right ?” Diego had put on his best cop face. A cigarette had appeared in Lupo's mouth.

“Yeah, sure. But now that he's alive, there's no more proof of that.”

“Huh, excuse you,” Allison said, her hand raising toward Lupo, a slight quiver in her voice. There was blood and... brain ? In her hand. “Isn't that proof enough ?” The detective cringed and approached her, then lowered her hand with his own.

“Right, um, yeah... But how do we explain him not being dead anymore ?”

“Well, everyone knows about our powers, is it too much of a stretch that one of us can be immortal ?” Vanya asked, always the pragmatic.

“I guess not, I guess not...” Lupo paced around the room, his chin in his hand. Then he got a small platic bag, and went up to Allison. “Alright, you're gonna need to come to the precinct,” he said while gently prying the brain bits from Allison's hold.

“No we're not,” Five said as he popped up in the same spot he'd disappeared. Lupo blinked a few times, taken aback.

“Huh. I don't really think you have a choice. I actually convinced my superiors I could bring you in peacefully so they wouldn't send the armed forces here.”

“Shit,” Five dropped. Instantly, Diego closed the distance between them, and grabbed his arm.

“Wait,” Diego said before he could jump away again. Five pulled away from his brother's touch, a snarl curling his lips. “Calm down, dude, Lupo has a point, we can't-”

“I know !” Five snapped; “Just... Give me a second.” He slicked his hair back nervously, exhaled forcefully to try and rein his breathing in. Everyone gave him some time to calm down.

Ben could only guess what went on in the mind of his fifty-eight years old brother. Was it the threat of the commission's attention ? The sudden accountability for one of many murders he committed ? Ben also considered the forty-five years of isolation and what that could do to someone's temper and mind. Ravages, obviously.

“It needs to be discreet,” Five finally said. “If the press finds out-” He interrupted himself. “Wait, there'll be social services involved ; We're fucked...” He walked to his notebooks, but didn't pick any up, just stared at them with a scowl.

“Would that be such a terrible thing ?” Vanya asked with all the sweetness she could coax up in her voice.

“We'll be sent back to Father, for one.”

“Not if I can help it,” Lupo claimed seriously, his claim gathering everyone's attention. “You're not alone in this, budd-” The detective cut himself off under Five's murderous gaze. “-Sir,” he blurted out instead. The Boy ticked, his eyes narrowed, but he said nothing about it.

“We still have to wait for Klaus to wake up.”

“Obviously.” Five kept trying to bore a hole through the detective's head with his eyes alone.

“We're not splitting up.” Lupo pursed his lips, rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and put the other on his hip. A drop of sweat slowly dripped from his temple.

“I'll do my best...”

“Not enough. We're not splitting up, period.” The detective sighed and put his head down.

“I'll have to check with my superiors. I need a phone...” He said, looking fruitlessly around the room.

“There's one in the lobby,” Diego offered.

 

“So what's the word ?” Diego asked when the detective was gone. Five grumbled, but sighed in defeat.

“I guess... We really don't have a choice. We have to go.”

“Yeah, obviously, but what do we say ? Do we tell the whole truth ? Do we agree on some other version of events ? Because the guy without a head anymore, that doesn't look good, you know ? How are we justifying it ?”

“Alright !” Five said. “I- You're the one who knows better in this case I guess.” Five said as it burned him to admit it. “What do you reckon ?” Diego frowned, surprised by his brother's reaction.

“Hum...”

“How about I just say the truth,” Luther suggested. “I'll be scolded and...”

“No, dude,” Diego answered, “you'll be sent in juvenile detention.”

“But the guy killed our brother.”

“Yeah, it doesn't work like that. I'll have to think of something on the way there.” Five grumbled again, paced just as Lupo had done a few moments ago.

“Maybe Allison could-” Vanya said.

“No, we do it by the rules. Maybe they'll be clement if they know we're fair play. Remind them about our powers, explaining our background under Reginald's thumb. We can play the abusive Dad's card in our favor...” Diego trailed off, losing himself in his own thoughts.

Detective Lupo came back quickly. Apparently, he'd managed to convince his superiors.

“They're a bit weary because of your powers, so if you could play it down once we're there,” He said while looking at Five, who kept spatial jumping around the room nervously, furiously writing in his notebook. The Boy barely looked at him.

“He does that when he's nervous,” Ben graciously explained to the detective. “I'm sure Five can settle down a bit though,” He said a bit forcefully, trying to get his brother's attention. Said brother grumbled, then waved dismissively in Ben's general direction.

“Yeah, yeah...”

 

Now they waited for Klaus to wake up.

 


	35. A bad news never comes alone

Turned out they couldn't wait for Klaus to wake up on his own. After twenty minutes, Lupo took out a beeper from his pocket, and frowned at the screen.

“My colleagues are getting a bit impatient,” he said without taking his eyes off the device. Ben didn't say anything, but he could swear the detective was a little scared. Instead, he patted Klaus' head gently.

“Hey dude,” he whispered. It took a few minutes, but Klaus eventually wiggled awake. He didn't actually open his eyes, but he did complain about being woken up. “We have to go to the police.”

“Noo,” Klaus whimpered. “I didn't do nothing,” he cried weakly.

“Hey, no, you didn't, relax,” Ben shushed him softly. “You're the victim, dummy.” He waited for Klaus to relax a bit. “Can you sit up ?” Klaus hummed, stiffened a bit, then shook his head.

“nuh,” he pouted, a bit upset.

“Can you open your eyes ?” Klaus had to think about it for a while.

“Ben,” he whispered, “Ben, I'm blind,” he started crying, and Ben couldn't help a laugh. “You're so mean, Benny,” Klaus cried out.

“Sorry, it's nervous,” Ben breathed out, regaining his composure. “Here, let me help.” With a finger, he pulled Klaus' eyelid open, revealing a distressed watery eye. “Better ?” Klaus nodded, happy he didn't go blind during his nap. “Come on, let's get you up.” Ben gestured Luther to come and help. Klaus wavered, and it was obvious he wouldn't stay upright or even walk on his own. So luther took him in his arms.

“I don't like it,” Five said, arms crossed and planted away from the exit. “We should wait for him to get better.” Ben agreed whole-heartedly. In fact, even _They_ agreed whole-heartedly.

“I agree,” Diego answered. “But we need them to see his head like that.” 'Like that' meant with all the drying blood and brain bits still stuck in his hair. Five looked at Ben, and his eyes narrowed.

“And what does Benjamin think about it ?” _They_ blinked, taken aback.

“We don't like it. But there's no choice.” There was surprise and well-covered fear in Lupo's features, probably because of Their strange eyes, _They_ thought. 'Octopus eyes', Klaus had said.They had to see it for themself one day.

 

They'd just passed the door when Klaus tried to wiggle out of Luther's grasp.

“What are you-” Luther started, wrestling with his passenger, trying not to drop him.

“I can't go out looking like that.”

“You don't even know what you look like,” Luther answered, bewildered.

“I feel it, duh. I don't have make-up on. It's weird.” He was about to fall off when Ben reached his side.

“Dude, you can't clean up yet,” he said, keeping him still with a hand on his forehead.

“Why ?” Klaus pouted, trying to get past Ben's hold, failing miserably. Ben explained quickly under Klaus' disapproving look. “Can I put some eyeliner at least ?” Ben sighed.

“How about we bring the make-up with us, and you'll put it on after the policemen have seen the damage ? I'll help you clean up too.” After a bit more pouting, Klaus agreed, and they came out in the street.

 

There was a van waiting outside, with an impatient looking police officer leaning on the hood of the vehicle. When she saw them all come out, she straightened up.

“You took your sweet time,” She said to Lupo. She then proceeded to take a look at each of them. She seemed wary and a bit confused, but she didn't say anything to them.

“Well, you know how it is,” Lupo answered without really answering, and opened the side door on the white and blue van. He held it open while they climbed in. Five hesitated for a long while before getting in.

On the way, noone but Klaus talked, and what he said didn't make too much sense. At one point though, he complained about being sea sick, and asked someone to flip off the ocean for him. Ben had to explain to him they weren't on a boat, and then Klaus threw up. Luther barely had time to avoid most of it, and everyone groaned in disgust. They opened every window and spent the rest of the trip head out in the wind and breathing through their mouths.

The police woman parked the van in an underground parking lot, passing in front of a wall of journalists eagerly waiting in front of the main entrance.

“Fucking hell,” Five had gritted through his teeth.

 

The seven siblings stayed close to each other as they entered the police station. Ben had mostly bad memories about that kind of place. Klaus would end up there on his most terrible nights. But right now, during the day and packed with police officers looking at them with curiosity and waryness, it looked completely different. A little girl, about twelve, ran up to them, or more accurately, ran up to the police woman that had driven them here.

“Mom ! Can we go now ?” She said, and Diego froze.

“Soon, honey,” the police woman said, nudging the girl in the opposite direction.

“Eudora ?” Diego whispered, and the little girl turned around to face him.

“How d'you know my name ?” She answered. But Ben stopped following that conversation. And even Diego lost interest when he saw who stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by two unknown women. He stood there, leaned on his cane, a look of utter annoyance painted behind his dreadful monocle.

Sir Reginald Hargreeves.

 


	36. Reunion

“Sir,” Luther whispered. Okay, no need to panic.

_'Father.'_ Jamin said.  _'Father.'_ Okay, no need to panic, Ben stated again, this time more for  _Them_ than for him. There's no way they'd have to go back. No way, so no need to panic. Father was scrutinizing them with those cold, dead eyes of his. Ben had to remember to breath. He wanted to check on his siblings, but he couldn't get his eyes off of Father. 

“Why's he- Why's-” Diego stammered somewhere on his right. And then father spoke. And Ben straightened his back instinctively. Soldier stance. No dilly-dallying. From the corner of his eye, he saw the others do the same.

“So you are those children,” he said. “Interresting.” He took a step forward, his cane clicked on the tiles.

Breath, Ben.

“I trully have no memory of you. Is it because of the one called Number three ?” His voice sent a chill down Ben's spine. How did he know ?

“How do you know ?” Five's voice was uncharacteristically nervous. Father turned his predatory attention on Five.

“You may have erased my memories, but I have countless journals about you.”

“No,” Allison breathed, “We took them.” She almost flinched when Father turned to her. Almost.

“Seems you were inefficient, children.” Weird. There was no venom behind those words. There should be. There should be disappointment. Disdain. Lupo had inched forward during the conversation. He seemlessly placed himself between Father and them. His arms were crossed, his brows furrowed.

One of the women that had been standing next to father came forward, and adressed the detective.

“Can we let the kids reunite with their father before interrogating them ?” She had a badge on her chest, a clipboard in one hand, and a horribly sweet tone in her voice. Lupo turned to her.

“Maybe that's not a really good idea, miss... ?”

“Miss Wellington, Child Protective Services,” she said, her voice suddenly a lot sharper, extending a hand for Lupo to shake. “I merely asked out of courtesy, sir... ?” She asked condescendingly.

“Detective Lupo. And I have it on good authority that this man is not a good parent.” He'd crossed Father's gaze while saying that. Ben held his breath. Nothing happened.

“Oh ? And who's authority, pray tell ?” Miss Wellington asked.

“Ours,” Diego answered, fists whitening by his sides, back still straight as an I. Miss Wellington's smile was the fakest, most disturbing thing Ben had ever seen.

“Sweetheart,” she started, approaching Diego and cupping his face with a hand. Diego stiffened up from the contact, tried to inch away from it. “I understand. Every son has to rebel against their father one day, but it doesn't mean they should run away and...”

“Who the fuck are you ?” Ben blurted out. “You think we left for shits and giggles ?” He felt the anger rise up, so he tried to breath it away.

“Young man, insults are not the way to talk to an adult,” she scolded, her tone cold. “Your father is a very respectable man. In fact, hearing that you've, what was it again ? Erased his memories of you ? That sounds absolutely unacceptable.” She'd been paid by him. No actual person would say those things. Surely they could tell, right ? They could tell he was a bad person.

Or could they ? Father hadn't done anything bad until now. In fact, he was strangely... Not kind, but... uncruel, maybe ? They'd never seen him so lenient and... Well of course. He didn't remember them. He was under Allison's rumor's influence. They were simply curiosities to him at that point, not his soldiers.

Ben looked around for some kind of support. Anything, really. Most police officers looked from afar with curiosity. The police woman that had accompanied them held her daughter close to her, her brows furrowed and her stance that of a soldier on the defensive. Then his attention set on Klaus, still in Luther's arms. He gripped his brother's arms tightly, his eyes squeezed shut and his body curled into a ball. Luther held him tight in return, his own gaze fixated on Father. Vanya stood behind him, peeking around his shoulder and trembling a little.

“You're wrong,” Allison objected with a small voice. “I did it to protect my siblings.” She raised her chin a bit, trying to offset the trembling in her tone. “Maybe he tricked you into thinking he was a good person. He's not.” Ben had never seen so much interest in Father's eyes. He was glowing from it. He watched Allison like a hawk.

“Now now, little girl. We happen to have discussed with your father a great deal. Maybe you shouldn't overreact so much.”

“Hey,” Lupo intervened, but Allison wasn't done defending her honor.

“Oh,” she snapped. “Oh, so you've talked to the guy for what, five minutes ? And you've concluded that he's a good guy ? What do you you make of his seven kids running away to live in the streets just to escape him, then ? How did you put it ? Rebellion ? How the hell did you become a child protector again ? What gives you permission to rule over people's actual experience ?” Miss Wellington opened her mouth to say something, but Allison wasn't finished. She raised a shaky finger toward Father, but didn't dare to look at him. “He's an abusive bastard, and he shouldn't be allowed around children,” she spat out. Diego reached out, and put a supportive hand on her shoulder. Wellington shook her head disapprovingly, sighing as if she'd proven a point.

“I've seen my fair share of abusive men, girl, and I know how to spot one. Your father isn't one of them.” Ben blinked, incredulous. What kind of person was she ? How many children had she condemned to a life of misery with that attitude of hers ?

_'She'll send us back. She'll send us back.'_ Ben closed Their eyes, because They were pretty sure they'd turned octopus-like. Chill out, Benjamin, they won't be sent back. They won't, right ? 

“Oh, so that's how it is.” Allison's voice had stopped shaking. Once Ben was sure his eyes were back to normal, he opened them again. Allison had approached Father, her chin raised and her fists white by her side. “You won't see reason until you see the truth for yourself,” she spat with that fiery tone of hers. She planted herself in front of Father, who stared at her with genuine curiosity and excitement. “I heard a rumor,” she commanded. “none of my previous rumors affected you anymore.”

Something shifted. In the air around Allison, in Father's eyes, then in his body language. He stiffened, frowned, and suddenly that empty, cruel pit in his gaze was back. He raised his hand above his head. They all straightened up instinctively, hands clasping behind their backs, and braced for impact. The back of Father's hand connected with Allison's cheek with a sharp thwack.

“Number Three !” He vociferated, shaking Benjamin to Their core. “How dare you ! Rumor Me !” He was about to hit her again. They couldn't do anything. None of them could move. Struck by terror.

 

Breath !

 


	37. Interrogation room... ?

Two sets of strong arms caught Father before he could it Allison again. Lupo twisted his wrists away from her. The lady officer had him in a head-lock, and pulled him back and away from her. A third officer had taken the cane from his hands, and he held onto the gun in the holster by his side.

 “Unhand me, you scoundrels !” Father yelled as he was bent over one of the desks, his arms in his back and swiftly cuffed by Lupo while Lady cop mushed his reddened face into the desk. “Unhand me, I said !” Lupo gestured at the guy holding Father's cane to accompany the lady officer. And the three of them disappeared into a corridor under Father's screams.

None of them had moved an inch. They knew what moving meant. Allison had it coming, and now they all should learn from... Wait.

 Get a hold of it, Ben. They weren't actually twelve anymore. They had lived. Father didn't rule their lives anymore. Get a hold of it.

  Lupo turned to Allison.

 “Hey, you alright, lady ?” He asked softly, a hand almost reaching for her, stopping mid-way and hovering for a while. Allison said nothing, shook her head yes. Then she slowly turned towards Wellington. The woman had a hand in front of her mouth, didn't dare to look at Ben's sister. Instead, she was turned toward where Father had disappeared.

 “I suggest you change your line of work, miss Wellington,” Allison instructed, her voice ice shards and her eyes steel beams. A red handprint bloomed on her cheek.

 “But he seemed so nice” The woman said. She wasn't remotely sorry. She didn't have a care in the world. “We'll work it out,” she said in dismissal.

 “You won't do anything,” Lupo ordered, “you're leaving.” He gestured to one of the police officers, who went up to miss Wellington, and politely asked her to follow him.

 “Excuse me ? I still have work to do,” she scoffed, yanking her arm from the officer's grasp.

 “No you don't,” said the second unknown woman who'd stood next to Father. “Either you leave now without making a fuss, or I call the inspection on you.” Miss Wellington gasped theatrically, and turned heel with pursed lips and a hurt ego. “I'm sorry about my colleague,” the second social service workers continued. “She's a pain and I've been waiting for a reason to call the inspection on her for a while.” Lupo hummed, stirred Allison away from the woman and toward Diego.

 “Maybe you should leave too,” he told her. “I think you've toyed with those kids enough already.” The woman scratched her head.

 “I'm afraid I have to stay and overview their interview since they don't have an appropriate legal gardian anymore. But if it will ease you, I can stay at a respectable distance.” Lupo turned to Five.

 “That okay with you ?” Five looked around at his siblings. He seemed just as unnerved as Ben was from what had just happened. He swallowed, then nodded without a word. “Alright...” Lupo continued. “Let's- Let's go somewhere comfortable, yes ?”

 He nudged them all toward a small corridor. They went silently, still disconcerted, under a dozen of policemen's stares and whispers. Lupo led them to a large room with a coffee table encircled by two couches and two armchairs, and a small kitchen covering the furthest corner from the door. Three police officers were there, drinking and eating, sitting on one of the couches. Lupo shooed them out unceremoniously.

 “Have a sit, kids,” he told them. “I have to go and fetch some colleagues. Can I leave you there ?” They looked at him in stupor.

 “We're not actual kids,” Five fianlly sighed.

 “Hum, yeah, sorry. I- I take that as a yes, then ?” he said with a thumbs up. “Yes. Good.” He was gone.

 

 “Didn't he stop beating us when we were eleven ?” Luther was the first to break their silence. He had put Klaus down on the biggest couch, next to Ben, then had taken one of the armchairs for himself.

 “Yeah, I rumored him back then,” Allison answered. She was huddled with Vanya on the opposite side of the couch, Diego between them and Klaus' lethargic form resting on Ben's lap.

 “Shit, right. I never noticed,” said Five, sprawled in the other armchair facing Luther's. “When exactly ?” They all turned to Allison, who pursed her lips, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

 “Remember the summer he made us all stand in the courtyard all day for like a week ?” They nodded in understanding, Vanya gasping softly. Right, she didn't do it.

 “Oh, yeah, and he would cane us if we moved,” Luther chimed in nervously. Allison made a vague gesture toward him.

 “Yeah, that's what made me do it. So one evenning I went to his study to rumor him. The first time I told him to stop beating us. But he kept doing his experimentations, so I kept rumoring him. one rumor led to another, and I finally told him to stop caring about us. That softened him up.” So, that's why Father had changed so much. Ben could never explain it, not that it had bothered him too much.

 “Wait, is that why he didn't care when Five left ?” Diego asked. Allison looked at him with wide eyes.

 “I- I guess...”

 “Is that why he didn't care when Klaus got into drugs ?” Ben asked, because it finally made sense. Father would never have allowed Klaus dampening his powers with drugs, but he did, and until now, Ben could never understand why.

 “Shit, yeah, I suppose,” Allison answered, a hand nervously stroking her arm. They fell silent again, and it was none of them who broke it.

 “Hi,” a kid's voice claimed from the door. It was Eudora, the lady officer's kid. “Your dad's a jerk,” she continued, approaching them confidently. “But don't worry, my mom's a badass, she won't let him hurt you anymore.” She dropped on the couch opposite the coffee table, reached for a doughnut and laid back on a pillow. “Obviously I know your names 'cause you're famous and shit, but how did you,” she pointed at Diego with her pastry, “know mine ?”

 


	38. Forensics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about taking advantage of them being at the police station to maybe start a 'Diego has to pick up Klaus at the station' flashback, cause I remember someone mentionning they'd like that. It's already been done, so I'd do it if it interrests enough of you, i guess ? And if I find a new twist on it too. Maybe at the end of this arc, and also, I feel like maybe it's a bit too close to the vietnam arc, so I don't know. You tell me :)

“Hum, I- I- I-” Diego was the reddest Ben had ever seen. He'd never get a whole word out.

“Is it a power of yours ?” Fortunately, the return of Lupo, Eudora's mother, the woman from social services and two other cops saved them from the little girl's interrogation.

“Sweetie, get out of here,” her mother ordered. Ben could detect a tinge of nervousness in the woman. Well, his siblings and he were here about a murder they'd commited, and everyone knew about their freaky powers. Ben could understand. Eudora was already on her feet and ready to argue.

“Mom, I think maybe it's a good idea if there's a kid their age here with'em, you know ? Psychology and stuff, yeah ?” But her mother didn't budge.

“Out,” she said softly. The girl's shoulders dropped, and she left without looking back.

“But it's a good idea,” she pouted as she crossed the door.

Lupo and Eudora's mother sat on the free couch, the woman from social services was cast away to the dining table in the far corner of the room, and the two new cops stayed behind the couch, looking at them with curiosity, especially at Klaus, Ben noticed.

The lady officer put down a few folders and a microphone on the table, turning the little red light on. She asked everyone in the room to state their names. Ben and his siblings went first. Klaus needed a nudge to wake up, asked why he needed to tell his name, but finally indulged before checking out again. The social worker was miss Cromwell, the two cops behind the couch Peterson and Peterson. Then it was the lady cop's turn.

“So, I'm detective Patch, and this is my partner, detective Lupo. We're here to interrogate you about the incident with mr Cobb. My colleagues from forensics behind me are here to take some samples from your brother's hair, is that alright ?” They all looked at each other, and everyone's attention settled on Ben. Guess he was in charge of all things concerning Klaus now.

“Detective Patch ?” Klaus mumbled from Ben's lap. “I never thanked you for saving me back then,” he continued with a sleepy voice. Shit. Ben remembered now. He'd been too focused on Klaus back then.

“When did I save you, kid ?” Asked Patch. She slid out of her comfortable spot in the couch, and closer to them.

“Don't listen to him, he's still out of it,” Ben tried to cover up whatever Klaus was about to say.

“You came for me when noone else did,” he breathed. “I'm so sorry they killed you,” he said before a sob shook his curled body. Ben gripped his brother's arm tightly, shushing him until he calmed down. He looked up to detective Patch, frowning and scrutinizing Klaus.

“I told you, he's still fuzzy from...” Well, they had to tell them one way or another right ? “From dying.” Patch pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath.

“Right, that. Speaking of which, my colleagues from forensics,” she gestured at the two cops, who'd moved and now stood at each side of the couch, a big metal suitcase in the man's arms. “That's why they're here.” Ben nodded at the cops.

 

They put their suitcase down on the table, and began prepapring. While they did so, the woman explained to them what they were doing.

“Hi kids,” she'd started, “So we're going to take samples of what's in your brother's hair to confirm what all the witnesses said about his head...” she turned to Lupo while putting blue gloves on. “Is it really okay if...” she whispered to the detective.

“Yeah, don't worry, go ahead,” he said, a bit jaded. Miss Peterson hesitated but finally turned back. “Well, the witnesses said that his head...”

“Exploded from Cobb's bullet, yes,” Five helped her, because it was obvious she wouldn't have been able to say it on her own.

“Huh, yeah, right...” She took a hair net out and put it on pensively. “So, huh, we also have to take each one of your DNA so we can exclude it from what we'll find on your brother's samples.” She fell silent again as she put on a mask. “Any questions ?”

“Please,” Five said, “get it over with, will you ?” The woman paused for a second.

“Huh, okay...”

And they went to work. While the woman took each of their DNA with a cheek swab and a few hair that he put in the suitcase after carefully labelling them, the man took care of Klaus' head.

First he took photos from every angle he could manage, asking Ben to lean back. Then he grated the dry blood into a ziplock bag, picked as many brain bits as he could with some tweezers and dumped them in another ziplock bag. Finally, he got a needle out, and proceeded to sanitize the crook of Klaus' arm with cotton.

Ben almost stopped him. Almost slapped the syringe out of his hands. But he didn't, and cringed as the needle disappeared into Klaus' junkie skin. And that freaking junkie. He fucking moaned. Ben couldn't believe it. He giggled, the fucker.

“Mmh, what's the occasion ?” he slurred and perked up a little. “Love me some... unexpected junk...”

“Shut the fuck up, Klaus,” Ben hurriedly berrated.

“Chill, Benny, this one smells nice at least, so whatev's...” he turned his best sultry look toward the cop, eyes half closed and biting his lower lip. “Hi, beautiful, you can be rough if you want.” Ben clapped a hand on Klaus' mouth instictively.

“Seriously dude, go back to sleep.” With a look, he apologized to the confused scientist. Klaus put his free hand on the cop's knee, which was all good and dandy. But then his hand slid down to the guy's crotch. Ben watched as Peterson froze in shock, then swiftly moved away before Ben could reach for his brother's offending hand.

“What the fuck ?” the cop whispered, bewildered. Ben apologized while wrestling with a resisting Klaus.

“Cm'on,” he struggled against Ben's grip, “Let me- pay- the guy...” He breathed heavily at the end of his short fight. “Properly !” He groaned before giving up. Ben bent down to his ears, whispering and hoping only he could hear what he was about to say.

“Klaus, we're in a police station, you're not getting drugged and you don't have to pay anyone.” Klaus turned glassy eyes at him, and then at the stiff cop in front of him. “The cop didn't like you groping him.” As he went limp, Klaus whimpered and closed his eyes again.

“That's too bad,” he sighed, “he's so cute. And gentle.”

“For fuck's sake, Klaus,” Ben said as he stroked his hair in frustration.

 


	39. Interrogation

The cop finished his task in silence, a wary eye on a seemingly sleeping Klaus.

“What was that all about ?” Patch asked once the two scientists were gone.

“What's going to happen to Father ?” Luther asked instead of answering. Patch looked at him with pursed lips and comprehensive eyes.

“It depends on what he'll have to say to defend himself, and maybe what you'll be willing to tell us about his treatment of you. But first, we have to talk about mr Cobb's death.”

“What is there to say, he shot Klaus in the face, so I killed him.” Five was getting impatient and jittery. When was his last coffee ?

“You... killed him ? Just like that ? How did you do it ?”

“With a knife to the carrotid,” he scoffed. “But you already know that, you have witnesses, or so I've heard.”

“Okay, alright... Is murder not something you consider hard ?” Five was about to answer, but Diego went first.

“Father trained us to be soldiers. Soldiers need to take lives sometimes.” Patch blinked, turned to Lupo, who shrugged. She whispered something in his ear, and he promptly left the room with a grunt.

 

“Okay, How about while we wait for Detective to come back, I make everyone a cup of hot chocolate ?”

“I'd rather drink coffee. Black. Thanks,” Five intervened. Patch rubbed her face, and took a big breath. She looked around, maybe expecting one of them to scoff and tell Five to stop being silly. They didn't.

“The rest of us would appreciate a hot chocolate,” Vanya offered.

Detective Lupo came back with a new person. He wasn't wearing any kind of cop uniform, instead a badge dangled from the breast pocket of his white shirt.

“Hi, kids, my name's dr King, I'm a psychologist,” he presented himself. Ben stiffened and waited for Klaus to react to the name. He didn't. “I'll just sit there and let the police officers do their jobs. I might ask some questions though, is it alright with y'all ?” Now that Five had a coffee between his hands, he simply scoffed and shrugged. The doctor took that as a yes.

Detective Patch resumed the interrogation.

“Witnesses also reported one of you punching mr Cobb's face into the ground. Why was that ?” Luther turned to Diego his big, clueless puppy eyes. Diego acquiesced, giving his the green light. Was that really a great idea, Ben wondered.

“I don't know, I just... He killed Klaus in front of me, and I couldn't do anything, I... I guess I got angry ?”

“You punch peoples' heads in when you're angry ?” The doctor chimed in immediately. It was definitely a bad idea to let Luther speak.

“No ! But the guy just killed Klaus ! He was dead ! His head exploded everywhere ! I got his brain on my face, you know ? And- And-” A tear rolled down his cheek, a sob choking the rest of his sentence. He immediately straightened his back, wiped the tear away, cleared his throat, and categorically refused to look at anyone or say anything else.

“Okay,” Patch soothed. She was about to put a hand on Luther's, but he flinched when she brushed him, so she backed away with a concerned frown. Ben didn't know much outside of his books and Klaus. But even he could tell this interrogation was going excellently in their favor. “So, hum, about your brother's death...” She rifled through her folders while searching for her next words. “How... What happened ?” Once again, all the siblings turned to Ben, so he started explaining.

“Well, it's his power,” he started, skimming as much as he could from the truth. “He has a link with death which... means he can't die,” he said, vague hand gestures wiggling around him. “But, huh, the others didn't know until after he- after he came back. It takes a while when it's the brain...”

“But you did ? Why didn't you tell them ?” Ben blinked a few times, not sure he'd heard that correctly. There was a witty answer to that question, somewhere.

“Shock ?” He simply said. “He still died, you know ?”

“Sorry, yes, stupid question... May I ask how you knew ?” He couldn't tell them about the multiple ODs and the horrible clients and the bad weather and...

“Ben ?” Diego asked in concern.

“Hmm ? Oh, he, huh, told me. He used to... He died a lot in the mausoleum.” He hesitated talking about that as well, but he had to put all chances on their side. And what better chance but to drag Father in the dirt and kill two birds with one stone ?

“Excuse me ?” asked his siblings in concert.

“The- The mausoleum ?” Patch and Lupo added. Alright, acting time.

“Yes, special training. We all had it, but Father forbade us to talk about it.” He looked at all his siblings in turn, didn't wait for their approval. “Well, Klaus was thrown in a mausoleum and locked in there for days. He died of dehydration and starvation and hypothermia...” Noone interrupted, simply gasped in horror and waited for more. Well, they'd be served. “What do people know about his powers ?” He asked Patch.

“That he sees ghosts ?” She answered, unsure where this was going.

“Right. Huh, but if he can see and hear them, why couldn't he... All the other senses them ? In there, they were mad with grief and they wanted nothing more but take revenge on life... They would strangle him, bleed him dry, bash his head in...” he kept the worst to himself. They didn't need to know what the spirits of the criminals had done to him. His sibling didn't need to know.

There was a very long pause. Ben could hear the microphone's tape soft whirring on the table, Klaus' light snoring. He absent-mindedly tapped on his brother's shoulder a rhythm he didn't know. He let the others digest what had taken him years to learn from a high or delirious or sick Klaus. He'd had time to process everything, build a facade of impassivity. He'd had an alive-looking and goofy Klaus to tell him all those horrors half-heartedly.

Before anyone talked, Ben felt a shiver shake Klaus, heard a whimper move past his lips. Fuck. It was starting already.

 


	40. Wake up call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, 40 chapters already. But well, what can I do, the story keeps flowing out :^) I have a vague idea of where this is going, but we're NOT there. Like. At all. So if you'll keep indulging with me, I'll happily keep writing :D

“The other day when, huh... you- you said they shouldn't be able to touch us.” Vanya's voice was weak, shaking, trying to keep herself together, trying to think of something else, deflect. Good tactic.

“Yeah, huh, nine ghosts shouldn't have been enough ghosts to have that kind of power,” He said distractedly. “The more death there is and the older they are, the more powerful they get.” Ben had his attention on Klaus, who'd shivered once more as he'd talked. It shouldn't be starting so soon, they should have one more day at least. But the trembling hand gripping his thigh told him otherwise. “Shit,” Ben whispered, trying to pry the hand open. It started to hurt quiet a bit.

“What is it ?” Diego asked softly, having noticed the shivering of his brother. Ben didn't answer him. Instead, he turned to Luther.

“Take my place,” he ordered him.

Number One raised and eyebrow and got up from his chair. He followed Ben's instructions without a word, took his place as Klaus' lap pillow. Ben crossed Klaus' arms on his chest, and Luther confusedly took a hold of them without a fuss. Then Ben crossed Klaus' ankles and folded his legs up to his stomach, and Luther took them in his other hand, still confused.

“Hold on tight,” Ben instructed. Luther's look of utter loss was soon replaced by surprise when Klaus started struggling against his hold.

“Wh-” He started, before a whimper interrupted him, soon turning into a heart wrenching scream of anguish. “What the shit ?” He exclaimed as he turned pleading eyes at Ben, fighting against each of Klaus' violent spasms. Ben sat down on the arm chair in Luther's place because he could do nothing else, and winced from another strangled cry.

“That's the second phase of his brain rebuilding itself. A lot less funny than the first phase, right ?” He shuckled, trying to lighten the mood. He grimaced under another wave of screaming, gripped the armrests tightly to try and refrain Them from coming out. It's alright, Luther's taking care of it, he reasoned with himselves. He could feel Them at the edge of his vision, but They understood. They stayed back. “The first time there were six sol... guys, and they were barely handling him,” He shared. “It- It shouldn't last too long,” he added as Luther almost let go of one of Klaus' legs.

Another scream, and the door opened on a worked-up, important looking policeman.

“What in the world is going on ?” He demanded to know, his scary eyes settling on Klaus' restrained form.

“Captain,” Lupo instantly got up and went to him, explaining what was going on, or so Ben supposed, since he couldn' actually hear their conversation. It seemed like a good explanation, because the captain, with only a little smidge of suspicion on his expression, left with a knitted expression of uncertainty, under another agonizing scream.

“How- how long exactly is this supposed to last ?”stammered a shaking Allison. Ben raised his hands in the air.

“Not much longer ?” He hazarded. “Don't worry, he'll be good as new in a moment.” And it was true. Slowly, Klaus' screaming calmed down, and he visibly relaxed between Luther's hands.

 

They jumped from the seat and dismissed Luther without a word. Their brother put Klaus down, and shuffled out of the couch, but didn't sit back right away, instead hovered behin Them. They didn't care. Their attention was set on Klaus. They sat down next to him, cupped his head in Their hands. Klaus rubbed his eyes with the energy of a sloth, a drawn out hum stuck in his throat.

“Klaus.” They said, before _he_ took back control. Ben didn't pause to take a breath and dispel the tension in his shoulders. Klaus groaned and opened his eyes.

“Benny ? Where- ?” He croaked, turning around weakly. Ben turned his attention back on him.

“Hey, dude,” He said softly. “What's the last thing you remember ?” He hated to rush him, but last time he'd lost a week's worth of memories. Ben had to know.

“Huh... Ice cream ?” Ben finally untensed.

“Oh thank fuck,” he sighed in pure relief. “And then ?”

“We were going to the park, then... Hum- There was a- a guy ? He, huh...” Klaus' attention once again fleeted around the room. “Where are we ?” He asked with a frown, his shoulders tensing up as he realised on his own. “Huh, what- what's going on, Benny ?” He put his own hands on top of Ben's, tried to tear them off his face.

“Hey hey hey ! Calm down, there was an accident, okay ?” He quickly replied, struggling to keep Klaus from panicking completely. “We're witnesses, don't worry,” he added, and then let his brother process the information. His eyes still darted around the room, however. “So, there's the seven of us,” Ben said in a matter-of-fact way. “Then there's detectives Lupo and Patch on the opposite couch, and doctor, huh, doctor King perched on its armrest. And over there at the table there's miss Cromwell from social services, and that's it.” After a while, Klaus finally untensed. He touched the back of his head, grimaced at the crusty dried blood covering his hair.

“What happened ?”

“You were shot in the head.”

“Oh. Is that why I don't remember ? Who shot me ?”

“Not even a why...” Ben sighed. “It was, huh-” He looked sideways at the cops. Eh, in for a penny... “A client of yours from the other day.”

“Oh... Which...” Klaus' attention slipped away again at the empty corner. Well, not empty to him, Ben guessed. “What's gonna happen to him ?” He asked in a small, imploring voice.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so very sorry for where I've stopped this chapter. Like, man, soo sorry about that


	41. Enter the widow

“No, don't feel bad for him, man, he killed you.”

“Yeah, but... But I'm alive, so...”

“He's dead,” Five dropped in anger. “I killed him. And I'd kill him a thousand more times for what he did to you.” Klaus gave a half smile to Five, before his eyes turned back to the far corner in sorrow. Shit. Fuck. The guy was here. Of course he was here, for fuck's sake. Wait, did he die before Luther gave him free surgery ? Gods, Ben hoped so. Nobody should have to see that. He wanted to ask his brother about it, but refrained himslef. No need to give the ghost more power by talking about it.

Everyone else had stayed silent all this time, for which Ben was grateful. But now detective Patch needed more answers.

“Klaus ?” She asked ever so softly, and waited for him to turn to her his sullen gaze. “I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but- Well, you're the first victime that can testify against his murderer, so, hum, could you... Could you look at this picture and identify him ?” She held out a picture of an ordinary looking man. “Is this the man that killed you ?” He looked so much more human on this picture than... Than that night.

“Hum,” Klaus swallowed with difficulty, reached for the purple marks on his throat.

Benjamin's vision narrowed down on Klaus' shivering form, and They focused every fiber of Their body to stay put. The fucker was already dead. There was nothing more They could do. They had to calm down. They could hug Klaus. Yes, They could do that, They had to do that. They did, and Their brother melted in Their embrace.

“It'll be okay,” They whispered with Their entwined voices. “It'll be okay,” They repeated for Themself, eyes screwed shut to keep the tears at bay.

“Yeah, that's the guy...” Klaus sighed. “Hum, why- Why did he kill me ? Was I that bad ?” He shuckled a little.

“No honey, you did nothing wrong okay ?” Patch answered, reaching above the table at Klaus' knee. “The, huh, man's wife caught him,” She continued.

“Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't want to cause any problems.” Patch's shoulders dropped in defeat, her brows furrowed into a wounded expression.

“Shit, no,” she whispered. Yes, indeed, shit. “Listen, honey, you're the victim here, okay ? Do you understand what that means ?” Her voice was very sweet, but Klaus' head was very thick.

“Yeah. I broke a marriage. I'm the side bitch,” he said with regret. Ben couldn't help but shuckle. He knew Klaus was very seriously traumatized beyond repair and it was nothing to laugh about, but Ben's nerves simply couldn't take it.

“You're a fucking idiot,” he mumbled in Klaus' shoulder.

“N- No...” Patch said.

“She wants to meet you,” detective Lupo snapped. His hands were white fists ready to kill. “Miss Cobb's been trying to meet you. She's worried about you.”

“Worried ? But I...”

“No,” he interrupted. “How about you hear her out before blaming yourself ?”

“Hmm- I- I don't know...” Lupo shot up from his seat.

“C'mon, let's meet her, you'll understand.” He left the room without waiting for Klaus' protests, leaving them all confused.

Ben didn't intervene, because the way they were dismissing the obvious, glaring fact that Klaus had been prostituting himself for this Cobb guy had caught his attention. What horrible thing did they know about what happened ?

But Ben's attention was once again on Klaus, jittering and breathing faster and faster. So he squeezed him harder, instructed him to breath slower.

“That woman, what exactly did she see ?” Diego asked the detective.

“She- Maybe it'd be better if you heard it from her ?”

 

The door opened on a tiny woman in her mid-thirties. She had anguished wet eyes that scanned the room frantically. And then she settled on Klaus, and tears flowed out on her cheeks.

“Oh my god !” She cried. “You're so much younger than I'd thought,” she sobbed, stepping toward them. She kneeled in front of Klaus, reached for his knees but didn't dare touch him. “I'm so sorry, darling,” she stammered between each sob. Klaus looked completely lost. His own hands hovered above the woman.

“Oh dear,” he breathed in surprise. “This is a bit- hum... Unexpected. I thought for sure you'd be mad,” he shuckled. And the woman whipped her head up.

“Mad ? No no, darling, why would I be mad ?” Here it was again. That look, the concerned-mom-look, drowned in tears and confusion. “You look just like-,” she whispered. “Oh my god, you- you look just like my son,” she muttered, a hand covering her mouth, her eyes huge and round from horror. “I thought I saw you die the other night...” Her eyes trailed up to Klaus' throat, set upon the purple handprints. She reached them with a shaking hand. “Oh, god...” She whispered. “He did that to you, didn't he ?”

“Oh, I- I don't really remember that night, to be honest,” Klaus dismissed with his usual fake nonchalance. A sharpness cut through miss Cobb's tears. She turned around, looked at each of them in turn.

“Who killed him ? Who killed the bastard ?”

“I did.” Five cocked his chin up in defiance.

“Good,” She said with ice shards in her voice.

 

Eventually, Luther gave up his seat to her, and he went to sit on the armrest next to Vanya. And miss Cobb started recounting the events of 'that night'.

 

* * *

 

 

She'd had a long day. When she came home, she braced herself in anticipation. But he wasn't here. She could tell by the simple fact the TV was off and the living room empty. She breathed out in relief, but it didn't last.

“Jeff ?” She called out in concern. Her son came down from the stairs, his eyes darting around, looking for his father. “How long has he been out ? Did you eat ?” Her son shook his head no.

“He wasn't here when I got home,” he signed before rubbing his eyes tiredly.

She made a quick meal for her son. She wanted nothing more than let her husband run free very far from home. But she didn't want to have to fetch him from the police station at four a.m. So she tucked Jeff to bed, and went back out to find him.

 


	42. That night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for explicit rape scene.  
> This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but I'm sick and can't focus on writing. So I'm at least giving you Miss Cobb's story, because it was already written.   
> And see you in a few days :)

She went around the shittiest parts of the city, asked the bouncers about him with a picture she carried just for that purpose. She hated this life he made them live. She wanted nothing more but to run away with her son, but she couldn't afford to live alone, and she speacialy couldn't afford to risk him finding them.

Eventually, one of the bouncers recognised her husband, so she went in. The place wasn't too full, so it wasn't completely impossible to move, but the people there looked like they'd partied for too long. They looked like they'd checked out of reality. She shuddered, didn't find him in there, and finally came to terms with the fact he wasn't here. She came out from the building's side. She feared for her life in the creepy, dirty dark alley.

Wet noises and nasty, excited grunts came from a bit farther, but she tried to ignore them. People could do whatever they wanted, right ? But what she heard before she exited the alley froze her blood.

“Mister, I don't feel too good, could you slow down ?” A kid. It was a kid. A kid. A kid...

“Shut your fucking trap, whore,” Her husband answered.

It took her an eternity to react. Her husband. A kid. Wet noises. Excited grunts. No. Nonono.

“Pl- Please, sir ? You're hurti-” The kid's voice was choked out, and she could do nothing but move toward the noise. It couldn't be true. It couldn't be, It couldn't be, right ? She approached enough for her eyes to finally discern the scene. Her husband held a boy against the wall, his hands on his throat, his pants on his anckles, his hips frantically thrusting, that disturbing wet sound making her want to puke.

“Phillip ?” she gulped in disbelief. It couldn't be,it couldn't be, it couldn't... He turned around. It was. It was him. “Oh my god,” she muttered.

“Marie ?” He had the gall to sound surprised. “Wh- What the fuck are you doing here ?” His voice was heavy from alcohol and drugs, she could tell. There wasn't an ounce of shame about what he was doing. When he let go of the boy's throat, the small body fell to the floor limply.

“God,” she pleaded, “Did you- Is he- ?” She took a trembling step forward, but her husband had rebuttoned his pants, and he was coming to her with madness in his eyes. He grabbed her arm forcefully and painfully, and dragged her away with a promise to make her pay for interrupting his night. He reeked of alcohol and sex.

He was crazy. She already knew that, but now. Now, it was on another level. She couldn't let him come home. Not with her son in there. He'd kill him too. Oh my god, he killed a boy. He raped a boy, then killed him, he was... He was... He would kill them. She was sure of it. She had to run away. Reach home first, snatch her boy and run away. She couldn't shake his hold. He shoved her in the backseat of the car, shut the door before she could run away, and drove home.

 

She escaped. She still wasn't sure how, but she did. When they arrived home, she somehow escaped. She took her son, they went throught the window of his room, and they left. They went to her mother's, called the cops, and hoped he wouldn't find out. That he'd be too intoxicated to notice they were gone. That the police would find him. That the boy was alive, the ambulance would find him in time. She hoped with tears flowing down her face, and her son in her embrace. They hid away for three days.

 

And the police called her this morning, to tell her her husband had killed a boy, that another one killed him in retaliation, and her heart skipped a beat.

 


	43. A lack of understanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for discussion about rape
> 
> Okay, so I feel like I'm going too far on the angst and I'm sorry, because I don't actually enjoy it. But like. Isn't that why we're here ? To get our hearts broken and to see our favorite characters suffer ? Why are we like that ? We're all going to hell, right ?

“Frankly, your husband sounds awful,” Was all Klaus found to say. Everyone else was still speechless from miss Cobb's retelling of that night. “I'm sorry you had to live this.” Miss Cobb opened her mouth to answer, but promptly shut it again, and hummed in confusion instead. Yes, Ben thought. That's what it felt like to deal with Klaus. Confusing, frustrating and sigh-inducing.

“Klaus, you're...” Started Diego. He had that tell-tale thing he did with his mouth when he got stuck on a word.

“Unbelievable ?” Ben helped him out.

“Wh- No, he...” Yeah, he won't finish that thought. What was there to say, after all ? Ben had tried everything over the past fifteen years. He'd seen far worse than miss Cobb had just told them. Klaus had simply no self-preservation, and even less self-esteem.

“Klaus ?” The doctor asked. “I understand you want to deflect the attention away from what happened that night, so...”

“Nope,” Klaus interrupted, crossing his arms protectively. “I'm not getting psycho-analysed again. Nuh-uh.” He was just short of sticking his tongue at the doctor.

“Again ?” The doctor asked a bit lost. “No, wait. I'm not psycho-analysing you,” he defended, waving his hands in denial.

“And for your information, I'm not deflecting-”

“You totally are,” Ben interjected. Klaus hissed at him, and Ben smiled wide. He was so happy to have his brother back.

“I'm NOT deflecting,” He repeated, scowling at Ben, “I just don't see what the big deal is.”

“The big deal ?” Vanya echoed with a small voice.

“Klaus, you- you- you were-” Diego started.

“You were raped,” Patch finished, her voice soft and trembling.

“Pff no I wasn't ? I'm not stupid,” Klaus dismissed, looking willfully at his nails.

“Huh, what ?” Lupo asked, bewildered. Everybody had perked up from their seats.

“Honey,” miss Cobb lamented, “I heard you say you didn't like it...” Klaus looked at her like she had four heads.

“So ? That's not rape, that's foreplay,” he shrugged.

“Wh- What- Who told you that ?” Klaus twisted a hand in the air, looked at the ceiling while thinking.

“Huh, I don't remember, but like, they all keep saying it, you know ?” Klaus then twisted his voice to -poorly- imitate some client or another. “ 'Oh yeah, keep saying that, you're so exciting !' or 'Oh yeah ? Well your dick says otherwise.' And other stuff like that,” he concluded, hand waving around in disdain.

Those guys had always given Ben the creeps, but he couldn't do anything about them, and soon stopped trying to steer Klaus away from them. He never did, the block-head.

“Wanna hear my best foreplay bit ? I'm really proud of it,” he asked, and before anyone could say anything, because apparently everyone was too stunned to say anything anyway, Klaus went ahead with his 'best bit'. “Please, stop it ! You're hurting me, please, I don't want it, I don't want it !” He cried and begged with a mix of terror and disgust in his voice, the very same voice that made Ben's skin crawl in revulsion.

All the adults had a horrified expression, miss Cobb had her hands in front of her mouth and tears flowing down her cheeks. In the back, miss Cromwell the social worker had wide eyes and a pen hovering above a notepad. 

“What do you think rape means ?” Lupo said with a trembling voice, fists shaking, eyes closed, trying to make sense of things.

“When they don't pay, duh ?” The detective opened his eyes, blinked slowly, raised an index in the air, and slowly put it down again. He briefly looked at Diego, but he seemed just as lost and speechless.

“So- huh, what do you do when you really don't want to- to have sex ?” It was Klaus' turn to be speechless.

“What do you mean ?” He said, tilting his head to the side.

“What do I- Is he for real ?” Lupo turned to Five in exasperation. But Five had a blank expression.

“Honey dear,” miss Cobb sobbed, “When you don't want to do something, you know you can refuse to do it right ?”

“Yeah, I know, lady,” Klaus scoffed. “But it's not like it changes anything ?”

“Wh- what do you mean ?” She whispered in anguish.

“Urgh,” Klaus answered, rolling his eyes, “I mean, you can refuse to do something all you want, it's not like it's not gonna happen anyway. You know, I say just go with the flow, it's a lot less painful,” he said, turning to Ben. “Am I right or what ?” Ben acquiesced with detachment.

“Hey, Ben,” Diego said, “you're the sensible one, what the fuck is he talking about ?” But Ben had nothing to say about any of that. Actually no, scratch that. The adults' expression of pure horror and incomprehension meant one thing. This wasn't normal. This was another thing Father had twisted in their heads, right. Well, how about talking ? Maybe father will never get out of prison with that.

“We've all learned that 'not wanting it' means nothing, Diego. After all, did any of us ever want special training ? Or the experiments ? Or to kill people on missions ?”

Five, absently sipping his coffee, tilted his head to the side in agreement. Luther pursed his lips but agreed anyway. Allison and Vanya had a mix of understanding and confusion on their traits, but Ben didn't dwell on it. Diego begrudgingly agreed, and then he lit up as if he just understood something.

“I mean when was the last time any of us actually tried to stop Father ? Or even ask him to stop ? And did he ever ?” His sibling shook their heads in agreement again. “Well, It's the same in the streets. The first time, Klaus tried to stop it from happening and he was left almost dead, if not actually dead, now that I think about it. And since then, he's never tried to do anything about it. Just like we've all stopped begging for the special training to stop. It never brought any results anyway.”

“What has he done to you ?” Patch asked bewildered. Klaus looked at her curiously, and her confusion turned to anger. “ I'm gonna kill him.” Klaus' face drained of all colors in a split second.

“Oh, please don't, he might haunt me if you do that,” he begged with a weak smile and shuckle. His attention once again set on the corner for a split second. He grimaced from disgust, and Ben got worried. With everything Klaus had seen in his long and terrible life, not a lot could disgust him. What exactly did he see in that corner ?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so. I need to know. Do any of you agree that none of the hargreeves (minus Diego who had like a sensibilisation training or whatever at the police academy) know anything about consent and like boundaries ? Because Hargreeves would be the type to never aknowledge the kids' wishes, right ? Does anyone want to discuss this ? Because I need to know what others think about this realisation of mine


	44. An important decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter's weird, I struggled to write it, because I had no idea how to get out of that weird hole that was chapter 43. Hopefully next chapter won't be so challenging

Klaus twitched. Or maybe Ben imagined it. His brother was very talented when it came to hide his powers. Then Klaus hummed uncomfortably, and that, Ben did not imagine it. He leaned closer and whispered in his ear.

“Hey, what's over there ? Wanna share ?” Klaus frantically shook his head, turned to him and smiled the fakest smile Ben had ever seen. Maybe he'd share later.

 

“This is fucked up...” Ben heard the social worker mumble. There was a pause.

“Okay, I've heard enough, you kids don't need any more of this,” Lupo announced, waving his hands around. Patch seemed to agree, because she didn't say anything against it.

“Oh, so we can leave ?” Klaus chimed, clapping his hands together and already up and ready to go.

“I'm afraid you can't,” replied miss Cromwell, and Klaus immediately deflated and let himself fall back down on the couch. “With your father in detention and no other parent or guardian, there is simply no way we can let you go.”

“Dad's in prison ?” He exclaimed. Oh, right, he was still under when they saw him, he didn't remember.

“Yeah, he's there, but he hurt Allison so-” Ben explained quickly. Not quickly enough.

“He's here ?” He'd lost his enthusiasm as soon as it came, but Ben quickly reassured him.

“Don't worry, man, he's in a holding cell, they won't let him go.” Klaus started to hyperventilate, so Ben pulled him close and without a word, made him match his breathing.

“Hey, wait, we have a mother,” Diego intervened, letting Ben take care of their brother. “And Pogo.”

“Oh ? And why is she not listed in your family record book ? And who's Pogo ?” Miss Cromwell had approached the couch area, her notebook under her arm, and she discreetly -but not discreetly enough that they didn't realise- placed herself in front of the exit.

“Uh- Dunno, maybe because she's...” Diego fell silent. Apparently saying Grace was a robot wasn't a good ideas. Noted. “Our father didn't...”

“She's a robot,” Klaus said helpfully, his breathing calm again. “And Pogo's our butler.”

“Klaus !” Diego shouted. There went his plans.

“What ?”

“Your mother's a robot ?” Patch inquiered. Her voice was not so much as trembling, and more disgruntled to the point where she took each new revelation with just faint surprise and not much else. Diego sighed, rubbed his eyes and his frustration away.

“Yeah, okay, but she's still our mom,” he countered.

“What did they have to say about your father's treatment ?”

“Nothing, mom's programmed to obey Father...”

“Alright, no, that's not going to happen, a robot can't be your mother-”

“You take that back !” Diego roared. Miss Cromwell took a step back, and put her hands up in protection.

“I'm sorry, kid, but, even if, uh, that robot is advanced enough that you would think of it as your mother, she's still your father's property, right ?” Diego scowled at the woman to the best of his abilities, but eventually yielded. He dusted his shirt, took a big breath, and looked at the woman. “And this butler of yours, he never tried to stop your father from doing all those things you didn't like to do ?”

“Well, he, huh, he's not really in position to, huh... Do anything against Father...”

“So you're saying both your mother and butler did nothing to protect you from your father's atro... bad treatments ?” Diego crossed his arms and pursed his lips.

“I guess...” He admitted begrudgingly.

“Well, then, I don't think it would be good for you to live in this environment. Without mentionning that your mother's a robot.”

“So, what do you want us to do ?” Diego's jaw clenched visibly, he crossed his arms tighter and scowled harder.

“Hum, well, we'll find you a place in a shelter for the night, and then we'll work on finding a nice family...”

“But we already have a home,” Klaus said.

“Oh ?”

“Yeah, and we're like, paying for it and stuff,” he said proudly. “Plus shelters are rubbish, and they'll kick us out anyway, and we'll be back on the streets...”

“Klaus,” Diego interrupted, “This isn't a-” he hesitated for a second. Only Lupo was aware of their past, but in this situation, explaining to Klaus was safer than let him run his mouth. “She's not talking about a homeless shelter, she's talking about an orphanage.”

“But what about our home ?” He pouted. “We can just go back there, and we won't bother you anymore.”

“That's not how it works, you dimwit, we're kids, remember ? They're not allowed to let us live on our own.”

“But we've been doing it and we're fine.”

“Remember what you said the other day ? 'Illegal is meaningless unless...'”

“Unless we get caught, yeah,” Klaus sighed.

“Well, we got caught.”

“Urgh.”

Five was strangely silent. Ben would have expected more resistence from him, but he just sat there, completely immobile and listening with a piercing glare. But really, what could they do ? Against the system, they were defenseless. They couldn't get out of it by simply getting rid of, say, bad guys, or resolving some issue or another. They were simply children without a legal guardian anymore.

Would they really end up in an orphanage ? There was a joke in there somewhere. Seven broken super-heroes enter an orphanage...

“Have we been fine though ?” Five said to his coffee mug. He crossed Klaus' look. “Look at you, you're covered in bruises and in your own blood, you cut your hand trying to steal Dolores, you died twice in three days- No wait, I'm pretty sure you died the other day with your fucking devil's tea.” He closed his eyes, and sighed in his mug. “Ben was right, you can't stay in the streets. Damn the commission, let's go and live our childhoods, yeah ?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm half thrilled and half scared about that orphanage idea. Because on one hand it means they're a lot closer to being able to go back to their time, if they know their younger selves are safe, and on the other, it could go on a complettelly different tengeant, the orphanage AU, if you will. I don't know... Let me know what you think about it :)


	45. The thing lurking in the corner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your feedback ! Now let's take a breather from the story and add some action !

“Pff, What the fuck Five ? 'Let's go live our childhoods' ?” Klaus burst out laughing. “Has old age finally made you senile ?” He wiped a tear away under Five's glare.

The social worker decided it was as good a time as any to intervene.

“Right, so we agree, then. Let me go and make a few phone calls.”

“We're not splitting up,” Allison instructed just as Five had said to Lupo. “And that's final, so don't come back unless you can tell us we won't split up.” Miss Cromwell looked at her a bit bemused. She was about to say something, but closed her mouth instead.

“I'll... Okay,” she answered with a forced smile, before leaving.

Doctor King was very quiet. He looked at each one of them in turn, slowly, and when he'd reached the last, he went back to the first. He wasn't writing anything on any notepad. Maybe it was a perk of having the conversation recorded.

“Are you sure you're okay about going into foster care or whatever she'll find for you ?” Lupo asked with a conspiratory tone.

“Not really, but do we have a choice ?” Five sighed in his mug. Surely he should have finished it by now ?

There was no answer, because Klaus jumped out of the couch and landed behind it completely ungracefully.

“Klaus ?” Patch called concerned. His eyes were wide and terrorized. He jerked back a bit, a hand raising ever so slightly from his side.

“Tell me,” Ben asked, making sure to get away from Klaus' previous spot.

He took another step back, raised trembling hands up to his chest and started to sign shakily.

“It's completely skinned. It's bleeding everywhere. It's rotting away.” It was never a good sign when Klaus couldn't speak out loud. “It's chasing me !” Shit. Ben got up just as his brother turned heel and almost sprinted to the cupboards in the simili kitchen corner.

“What is he talking about ?” Miss Cobb stammered. Oh, right, she understood sign language. Her son, right ? “What's chasing him ?” Ben shushed her with a finger in front of his mouth and a scowl. Meanwhile, Klaus was opening every cupboard, frantically searching but not finding anything.

“Hey, what are you doing, kid ?” Patch asked, getting up to see better. Klaus didn't answer, obviously. He was too taken up in his search. Ben knew what he was looking for, of course, no mistery there. He went up to Klaus, who now browsed the upper cupboard, grunting as he found each one empty of alcohol. Ben didn't touch him, because he wasn't sure Klaus knew he was there.

“Hey, c'mon, man, this is a police precinct, you know they don't have anything.” Klaus whipped his head around, looked above Ben's shoulder, and then grabbed his hands and pulled him away.

“Had to try,” he whispered, a smirk trying to hide the terror. He made them dance as he pulled away, humming a nervous tune as his eyes flickered between Benjamin's shirt and the horror following him.

“Let _Us_ see it. Let _Us_ dust it for you,” _They_ said.

“What is going on ?” Patched asked again. To her credit, she didn't sound exasperated, just curious and worried.

Klaus let go of Benjamin's hands and made a run for the door. Two steps away from it though, he abruptly stopped and back-pedaled, barely holding in a scream. In his frenzy, he tripped and fell on his ass with a surprised whimper, and proceeded to curl up on the floor, arms protecting his head. Everyone had gottent up at some point, but Benjamin didn't care. _They_ walked up to _Their_ dear brother, kneeled at his side.

“ _We_ 'll protect you. Show _Us_.” _They_ had one hand on his wrist. He looked at _Them_ with tearful eyes and a sob stuck in his throat.

“I don't know how !” His voice cracked, barely understandable. And then something must have touched him, because he jumped out of his skin and crawled back frantically, away from _Their_ touch, whimpering quietly, but more and more desperately.

 _They_ had to do something. Anything. But _They_ were frozen in place with rage and worry. Tentacles slithered out, flowing from under _Their_ shirt and flowing like a raging river.

 _They_ heard the scream before _They_ saw the thing, before even registering the blue shimmer around Klaus. A soul-piercing howl, fueled by anger and madness, made the tentacles cringe back. The thing it belonged to, the thing haunting _Their_ brother, stood right above his shivering form. Just like Klaus had described ; No skin, rotten blood spilling everywhere and yet nowhere, disappearing as soon as it touched the floor. And the stench. Gods, the stench. _They_ couldn't help but gag and step back. _Their_ eyes watered from the waves of rot and mold, and everything that suppurated, it seemed like.

But it was quiet enough. The anger _They_ felt toward that thing made _Their_ vision tunnel out. The bleeding form was all _They_ could see now. It tried to touch Klaus with something that didn't even resemble hands anymore.

 _They_ pierced it with every one of _Their_ tentacles like they were spears. A raging roar ringed in _Their_ ears as the thing struggled against _Them_. _Their_ own howling thundered above everything. And at last, the thing disintegrated, leaving no trace, no scent, no blood. Just a shuddering Klaus on the floor, glowing blue and sobbing silently.

 _They_ had to force Their body to move. One step. Two. And then _They_ fell on _Their_ knees next to Klaus. _They_ wanted to wrap him with _Their_ tentacles, They wanted to protect him from everything, everyone else in this room. _They_ struggled against it. Not constructive, a part of _Their_ brain, the one that still spoke logic said. As each appendage crawled back inside of _Them_ , _They_ extended a hand toward Klaus. No touching, no touching, no touching ! Right, no touching, not good.

“It's okay. It's. It's gone. Now.” Benjamin spoke. _They_ swallowed, waited for an answer.

A green eye peeked out from behind two fingers.

 _They_ smiled.

Klaus sighed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to know why Klaus and Ben know about sign language, read my other fanfic, Lip reading ! ^^


	46. Blue things and rail shooters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, but I'm still sick and kind of Blah™ So I'm struggling.

“I'm tired, Benjy...” Klaus said as he collapsed in Their arms. They had their backs to the couch, leaning on it desperately. “So fucking done with all this...” He burried his face in Their chest, fell silent for a second. “I wanna be numb again.” They didn't say anything, simply held him tigh. They admired the blue pulse of his powers, ethereal light akin to smoke, seemingly dancing across his skin like will-O-the-wisps. As terrible as that power was, it was also terribly beautiful.

In the corner of Their tunnelled vision, a ghost approached like it was entitled to do so.

“ _Klaus, help-_ ” But Benjamin didn't let it finish. They smushed it into the ground with one fell swoop. Two other ghosts, bloody and beaten, appeared through the wall in front of Them. They looked for something. For someone.

“ _Klaus_ ,” they hissed as their eyes fell on him. Of course he was a beacon. They'd keep coming as long as his powers called them. Benjamin could distinctly remember the tugging need to get closer to Klaus, he could help, he could do something... They crushed those two new-commers before they got closer.

“How about. Turning. It off ?” They suggested. Though They didn't like the idea of leaving him alone with them, there was no choice, really.

“I don't know how...” He sighed, turning his head slightly, just enough to take a look at his hands. They hummed, but didn't know what to say.

“Hey,” Five announced his presence as he emerged from around the couch. He sat down, leaving a gap between them. “Maybe I can help with that. Our powers look alike, maybe we can work it out ?”

“Yeah, okay...” Klaus sounded exhausted and done with the day, but he humored his brother nonetheless. Five lit up his own hands, and it sure did look like Klaus'. A little bit less smoky, a little more... Plasmatic ? They couldn't really define it.

“Okay, so... Do you feel a little tingle on your skin ?” Klaus acquiesced after a few seconds. “Right, so try and follow that tingle around, on your palms, then up your fingers, your fingertips, and down again, maybe feel it on the back of your hand...” As he gave his explanations, Klaus followed silently, brows furrowed in concentration. “Feel it ?”

“Yeah,” He whispered a bit less tiredly. Another ghost appeared, but Benjamin didn't let it speak.

“Can you feel how it flows ? The path it takes, it's almost like it's dancing right ?” Klaus nodded, a small smile blooming on his lips. “How about trying to nudge it ? Maybe, just slightly to the left.” Klaus was focused on his hands, and more specters were coming, screaming Their ears out.

Benjamin got up. They scanned the room, struggled to find the ghosts with this damn tunnel vision of Theirs. What good was it anyway, this stupid half sight ?

They saw the two detectives with their guns, protecting Their siblings and the doctor in the farthest corner of the room. They found one of the ghosts, an old man with a crushed ribcage. A tentacle instantly shot up and impaled it, leaving nothing behind. They could hear the other one, but it's screaming was so loud, They couldn't tell where it came from. They turned to Their siblings, huddled behind the cops.

“Where is. It ?” But they looked at Them in confusion. “We don't. See well,” They explained, waving a hand in front of Their face to be sure they'd understand quickly. They did, and Allison pointed somewhere on Their left. Sure enough, the ghost was there, a woman with a ripped dress and a slit throat. They cut it in half and it's screaming died down, revealing to Their ears This room wasn't the only one plagued with ghosts.

Outside of the room, confused cops shouted instructions They couldn't make out above the specters' own wailings. Another woman appeared, dishevelled and screaming for help. A tentacle shot up straight for it's head.

“WAIT !” Diego screamed as one of his knife planted itself in the tip of Their tentacle, making it recoil as pain shot through and radiated from the wound. They hissed at Their brother in anger, incapable of holding it in. “She's alive !” Diego explained, a hand on another knife, ready to shoot.

“What the hell is going on ?” The new cop exclaimed, her gun pointed at Their head. That didn't help. They didn't like that. She might kill Them. She had to stop. They shielded Themselves with Their tentacles, hissing at the newcommer. They had to speak. They were civilized after all. But the gun, it made Them feel queasy. Made Them remember when Father was behind the gun. She had to stop. She would hurt Them. She had to stop !

“Stop,” They pleaded quietly, Their voices cracking. They curled on Themselves, Their tentacles coiling around Them for protection. Father hated weakness. “Please, We'll obey.” And They were showing nothing but weakness right now. But it was better than being shot.

“Benjamin,” someone said, a hand touching Their shoulder. They jerked back, ready to get rid of the new ghost... No, it wasn't a ghost, of course it wasn't ! They didn't care about Them, why would a ghost talk to Them ?

It was Vanya. She pointed on Their right, in the corner where a simple chair stood, and phasing through it, a ghost of an angry bearded man marched toward Klaus, shouting insults and other horrible things.. Shit, They needed to take care of it. But They were frozen. They had to protect Themselves from the gun. They couldn't move.

“Carlson, lower your gun !” They heard Patch order from her corner.

“Patch, what's going on ?” Carlson asked instead of lowering her gun. They had to do something. The ghost was almost on Klaus. They had to, They had to- They retracted the tentacles away, that would appease him. They were left with no protection, but surely, Father wouldn't hurt Them now that They'd obeyed, right ?

The angry man was on Klaus now, close enough to touch him, hurt him, and They were frozen and unable to help and useless. The ghost raised it's hand and... Vanished.

“I did it !” Klaus exclaimed, delighted, from behind the couch, where They couldn't see.

 


	47. Transition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've hit the hundredth page with this chapter !!! Yay !
> 
> Okay, so, this chapter feels weird. It's one of those 'what happens between relevant scenes' kind of chapters. I hope it won't feel too weird to you. Maybe I feel this way because I struggle to write them ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. Anyway, let's see how it goes !

“What about the ghost ?” Five asked. The new cop had lowered her gun, and Benjamin immediately slid away and toward Klaus.

“He calmed down. He has no idea what he's doing there.” Klaus turned to Them with a big smile on his face. “See ? I did it,” He chimed at Them, squeezing Their hand in relief. They smiled back.

“Good work,” They beamed. “We're so proud of you,” They whispered just for him. He smiled brighter before turning away from Them, toward where the ghost had stood.

“You're in the police station,” he said to the air. “You came from there,” he added after a pause, pointing at the corner with the chair. Another pause. “The police station.” Apparently it was one of those confused ghosts. “Maybe if you go that way, you'll find your shop-” Klaus frowned, lost his smile, got a bit nervous. “You're- you're in the police station, maybe-” He squeezed Their hand a bit harder. “Just- Go that way,” he said, pointing intently at the corner. “Walk straight until you get out of the building. Your shop will be there.” He swallowed, tensed up, hummed anxiously. “Your- Your shop's that way, please just go,” He stammered. There was a long pause. Behing Them, hidden by the couch, there was a bit of a commotion, but Benjamin couldn't care less. “Just-” Klaus snapped, “Just go that way, come on man, it's not that hard !” He was angry, got up quickly, still pointed at the corner. “Go on, then ! Follow the finger, walk straight ahead until you're gone, and then keep going !” He made shooing motions, exasperated noises. “Go, shoo ! That's it, you're almost there, keep going !” Finally he untensed, sighed and leaned on the couch. He looked down at Them, his proud smile back. “He listened to me !”

They beamed again.

“Well, that's good,” Five said, getting up from the floor, and dusting himself off. Klaus lended Them a hand to get up.

 

The new cop was in full discussion with detective Patch, but she raised her head when Ben emerged from behind the couch. Her hand reached her gun that she'd put away in her holster. But Patch stopped her with a nod and a 'Don't'. Their siblings approached, asking if they were alright. Ben hummed distractedly, and Klaus gushed out about his prowess. Everyone was glad to listen and congratulate him.

Ben had all his attention on the woman, and she did as well. With Jamin in the backseat again, Ben could think a bit clearer. He didn't move when the cop wouldn't let go of her gun, even if he felt the tugging need to. He was in control. He could do this. Finally, under Patch's reprimands, the new cop let go of her gun, but still observed Ben, until Patch led her away of the room with a strong hand.

“Are you kids all right ?” Doctor King asked, inching toward them like they were scared cats.

“Yeah ! Did you see that ? I... Who are you again ?” Klaus seemed so very happy, Ben almost forgot the cop and her gun, almost forgot the way They'd been frozen in place, utterly defenseless, _defenseless, defenseless_ \- Alright, snap out of it, it's over, We're safe-

“Benny ?” Klaus asked, a concerned look on his face. “You okay ?”

“Hum ?” He said, turning to his brother. “Yeah, yeah, I'm okay,” he smiled to appease Klaus.

“Well, that was something,” the doctor shuckled awkwardly. “Were those truly ghosts ?”

“Yeah, huh, let's not talk about it, yeah ?” Klaus said, “It makes it harder to manage,” he confided to the doctor.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” He said, and he was. Ben liked that guy. He wondered if maybe he was related with the other King they knew... Nah, 'King' was a pretty common last name. Right ?

Miss Cromwell came back in, looking shaken like every cop that had popped in to check if everythong was alright in there.

“Are you kids alright ? Did you see that ?”

“Are you for real, lady ?” Klaus asked her bewildered. “You're asking the kid with the power to see ghosts if I've seen the ghosts ?”

“Gh- Ghosts ?” She stammered. Klaus looked around at his siblings, at Lupo, at the doctor. Everyone shrugged. Klaus turned back to miss Cromwell.

“Yeah ?”

“Yeah, so,” Diego, butted in, “Did you find something for us, or what ?” The social worker took a few seconds to react.

“Huh- Yeah, I did,” she said, still a bit shocked. She looked at her folder in her grip, flipped through a page or two. “So, I understand that you were home schooled, right ?”

“No... No wait, we're gonna have to go to school ?” Five gulped, voicing all their thoughts. “With children ?”

“Hum, yeah, it's the law, boy. I've found a boarding school ready to foster the seven of you, and you'll be able to attend class. It won't be immediate, there're certain procedures to fill out, but-”

“We can't go to school, lady, we're-” Adults, he was about to say. “We're... Dangerous. See what just happened with those ghosts ? Our powers are dangerous, you can't put us with other children...”

Diego stopped his ranting with a hand on his shoulder. He whispered something in his ear, probably some legal thing about how kids were obliged to go to school, that they didn't have a choice, that it was gonna happen anyway. Five was _not_ happy.

“I'm fifty-eight, for god's sake !” Ben heard him whisper angrily. “I can't go to _school_ ,” he spat the last word out like he talked about shit under his shoe. “And the media !” He shouted. “We're gonna be hounded down by the media, we can't go to school !” Ben saw the sign of his imminent teleportation ; His legs were shaking a bit, the air warped around him a little and sure enough, he disappeared in blue light, reappearing near the kitchen corner.

He'd taken a notebook out of seemingly nowhere, and paced the room, jumping around the place, mumbling to himself about every variable he had to calculate, take into account, add to his equation. The three adults looked at him teleport in awe, and before miss Cromwell could talk again, Diego stopped her. He nudged Vanya in Five's direction. She went to him, predicting his next appearance, and stopped him with a hand on his arm. He stopped reluctantly, but still mumbled to himself.

“Hey, man, you know we can't do anything about it, and you know what ?” She approached his ear, whispered something to him. He listened to her. And then he turned to her.

“Yeah, I... I guess you're right...” He sighed, slicked his hair back and jumped right in front of miss Cromwell who jerked back and gasped. “Okay, whatever, let's do this,” He spat out.

 


	48. Moving out, moving in

The day was getting really long, Ben thought. He wanted nothing more but sit back and enjoy a book with Klaus knitting by his side, or some other variation of fucking rest. It was only a few hours ago that Klaus died right in front of everyone, for fuck's sake !

As a result, he simply followed everyone around, his feet dragging and a constant yawn on his lips. First, they went back to the boiler room to get their stuff. They'd avoided the media's attention, the group of reporters still huddled at the front of the building. Lupo had driven them in an unmarked van. The one they'd ridden earlier was being washed of Klaus' sick, apparently.

Ben watched, a bit detached, as Luther and Diego took down the fairy lights and crammed them in a bag. Meanwhile, Allison and Five were filling another bag with as much stuff as they could. Vanya was trying to use her powers to tidy up the remaining clothes off the floor. It didn't go too well, but she wasn't breaking anything. Klaus was taking a much needed shower.

Ben's stomach hurt from the tentacles he'd used, but he didn't care. The pain was nothing compared to what it used to be, when he thought They were just brainless monsters trying to kill him. The pain was nothing compared to how They got rid of the ghosts for Klaus.

And then, all their stuff cleaned out, they took a last look at their little home and then were as ready as they could be. They got in the van, and drove off into the metaphorical sunset.

 

Ben had fallen asleep quickly, so the journey seemed really short.

 

Lupo stopped the van in front of a big building. It looked nothing like he'd expected. He'd had a mental image of a shady, crumbling building, fenced with iron spears and broken wooden signs, maybe a bolt of ominous lighting in the background to make it official.

Instead, the place looked clean. Normal. There was an iron fence, but it looked more about keeping strangers out than people in. There was green grass, beautiful trees, birds singing.

At the front of the building, a man and a woman waited, probably for them. Lupo helped with the bags, and insisted in joining them 'for the visit, at least'.

“Hello, kids,” The woman said when they reached the entrance, a huge double door made of wood, glass and intricate forged iron. “I'm the head mistress, miss Rees, and my colleague here's the vice-principal, mister Ward.” The head mistress seemed nice, despite the weird look she gave Klaus. The vice principal didn't say anything, but his smile didn't seem too dodgy.

Ben didn't follow the rest of the introduction. His eyes were drooping shut. He managed to follow along the corridors as they visited each notable place ; the canteen, the toilets, the communal area, the classrooms, the courtyard. Everything seemed clean, and it was all Ben registered of the tour, really. That, and the whispers and heads popping at the windows around them. Ben had been used to the public eye's attention. He'd forgotten a bit what it'd been like, but it didn't really bother him. He just wanted to sleep, was that too much to ask ?

Finally, they were led along a well-lit corridor with doors every five meters or so. The head mistress -Ben had forgotten her name- opened a door and invited them in.

“Here's you boys' room. The girls' side is down that way-”

“Nope, we specifically asked to stay together,” Allison said. Lupo shuckled as he put the bag he carried down the ground and crossed his arms, observing the match that was about to happen. The head mistress seemed a bit taken aback.

“Sure, young lady, but you can't all sleep in the same room, you understand, there are rules.”

“Why can't we ?” Vanya asked.

“Because that's how it is, Boys sleep here, girls sleep down the hall.”

“Why ?” It was Luther's turn to ask.

“Because,” Klaus butted in, rubbing his eyes tiredly, “They don't want girls to be assaulted.” Having said that, he elbowed Diego who stood in the door's frame, and entered the room with a yawn and a twirl of his skirt. “I call dibs on the top bunk !” He climbed the one nearest to the window, and immediately crashed down. Ben wanted to do the same, really.

“Why would someone assault girls ?” Luther asked in his infinite naivety.

“Because men are thrash !” Klaus shouted as Ben entered the room, gently patting Luther's arm while passing him. He fell on the bed under Klaus', and immediately started to drift off.

“Dinner is served at seven thirty. I'll let you settle and rest for now,” said the Head mistress. “And, hum... Could you tell your brother to dress appropriately, please ?”

“Huh. Sure ?” Luther answered confusedly. Urgh. It was one of those places, then. Whatever, they'll deal with it later. Ben vaguely heard Lupo saying goodbye, and then finally fell asleep.

 

“Lupo gave us his number, just in case,” Diego said. It was ten past seven, and Ben did not want to get up. His stomach still hurt, and he wasn't sure he'd be up to eat.

“Alright, let's hold on to that,” Five replied. “It might be useful to have a gun around if the commission decides to show up.”

“No, bro, it's not... He gave us his number in case we're treated like shit here.” There was a pause.

“Oh. Right.” Ben was determined to stay in his bed, head in his pillow. Maybe his siblings would get the message and leave him be.

“Cmon, get up,” Klaus said while shaking him left and right. Apparently not. “I'm starving.” Ben grunted, but got up anyway.

“You're still wearing your skirt and make-up,” Ben noticed in retaliation for having been woken up.

“Umpf, so ?” Klaus crossed his arms and pouted. He knew. And Ben didn't want to rub it in, really. He hated it, in fact.

“Hey guys,” Luther said, looking out the window while fixing the buttons on his uniform's shirt. He turned to them while fixing his tie. “The head mistress asked that we dress apropriately, so could you ?”

“That's not what she...” Ben started. But hey, why not after all ?

 

 


	49. Kids, amirite ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, let's see where this is going ! I have no idea what's gonna happen, and I have no clue as to how boarding schools actually work, so if things seem wrong, don't hesitate to tell me !

They all dressed in their academy uniforms. It was very appropriate, after all. And so what if Klaus wore Vanya's skirt and Vanya wore his shorts ? Luther had no idea what their sudden cheekiness was all about, but he was glad everyone agreed with his choice of clothing.

“I still don't get why you suddenly want us to wear those damn things again,” Five complained, but indulged anyway.

“Listen, my favorite littl-” Ben interrupted himself under Five's death glare, “favorite recluse,” he said instead, pulling his sock up to his knee. “There is something people call 'gender appropriate clothing style'.” He put on his shoe, tied them with chevron lacing. “We don't care because... Well, we just don't. But here apparently they do. And they don't like that Klaus is wearing a skirt.”

“Okay,” Luther said. “I still don't get it. It suits him.” Five nodded in agreement.

“What do they care anyway ?” He asked.

“Hey, you know what ?” Diego said as he adjusted Vanya's tie. “Don't sweat it, dudes, you don't have to get it, there's no logic behind it.” Klaus was beaming proudly at his brothers, glowing in his checkered skirt and fresh coat of eyeliner.

Someone knocked at the door. Everyone took their defense position. Allison opened the door on a young boy, who looked unprepared for any sort of fight. They all relaxed before he started to panic.

“Huh-” He said, his eyes on Allison, his face reddening. “You- I'm supposed to, huh...” He gesticulated, trying to make them understand. “take you to the canteen,” he finally said.

“Oh, alright,” Allison smiled, making the kid blush harder.

They all followed the boy along the corridors. He didn't talk, just turned around sometimes to make sure they still followed him. They did. Kids were appearing from all sides, walking in the same direction as them. They wore civil clothing, Ben noticed. And the kids probably noticed they were not, because they kept staring and giggling. Whatever, at least they weren't flocking around them.

They entered the canteen, already packed with kids chatting away, laughing and some of them screaming.

“Yeah, so, Wardy kept you a table ? He said you'd want to stay between yourselves so huh, it's over there,” he pointed at the empty end of a long table. Everyone stood there, a bit awkwardly. The kid hummed. “So, do you want me to stay, or huh, maybe you don't ?”

“Don't worry, we'll manage,” Allison said graciously.

“Oh, okay-” He shuffled, and then he was gone.

They went to the table. Ben couldn't help but wonder if they should stand until told otherwise, but he quickly brushed the feeling off. The other kids were seated. No need to worry. They didn't talk though ; It had been a long day, and if Ben had to guess, the feeling of waiting for food in their acamy uniforms might be throwing them back into their old habits.

Five, seating opposite him, seemed jittery and tense. His eyes darted all around the room, scrutinizing everything he could. He was sleeking his hair back and turning around everytime a group raised their voices. Diego was keeping an eye on him, and put a hand on his shoulder when he'd almost jumped away.

Vanya had her eyes closed. She was controlling her breathing just as Ben had taught her, just as he'd himself learned to do for Klaus. Vanya'd said it helped her when her powers were overwhelming her. Allison was keeping an eye on her, giving her hand to hold, tapping a finger to a slow rythme to keep her focused and calm.

Luther stood straight as an I, immobile and a bit stunned. He looked ahead at the kids huddled at the table over. They peered and whispered and formulated theories, Ben assumed.

Loud, crowded environments had never bothered Klaus. Well, it wasn't exactly that he wasn't bothered. It was more a matter of being used to it. As long as the ghosts... Well in this case the kids, weren't attacking or screaming in his face, he'd just nonchalantly ignore the commotion. It had been true that loud and crowded environments never bothered too Klaus. But between then and now, Vietnam had happened to him. His legs tapped on the floor, he swayed back and forth to a hummed, inaudible melody. He squeezed Ben's hand with wild abandon, and Ben squeezed back just as tight. It helped to ground him.

“Quiet, kids !” The vice principal shouted from the other end of the canteen. But the kids did not quiet down. Instead, they started banging their forks and knives on the tables, chanting 'SPEECH, SPEECH, SPEECH !' as loud as they could.

The seven of them covered their ears desperately. Their own cutlery started shaking on the table, and Vanya had her eyes squeezed shut and her breathing up. Fuck. Five was gone already, and Ben wasn't really surprised. But he had to let Diego and Allison take care of them both. Because obviously Klaus was on the verge of a breakdown. He swayed harder, whimpered more desperately. And Ben couldn't possibly touch him right now. He couldn't talk to him either above all this noise, but he didn't have to.

“Klaus, focus on me, okay ?” He signed, hovering as close as he dared. When he was sure Klaus was paying attention, he gave him a breathing rythme to follow. He did great, considering.

Diego had gone out to look for Five. And it seemed like Klaus would be okay. Crisis averted, right ? But the vice principal decided that the best idea to shut kids up was to bang some heavy object on some hard surface a few times in a row. Fuck them, whoever they were.

“Take cover !” Klaus shouted as he threw himself to the floor.

“Shit,” Ben gestured at Luther for help, and they joined their brother under the table. Luther, under Ben's orders, minding the soldier's reflexive punches, stopped his desperate attempts to crawl away by grabbing his shoulders. Klaus screamed and struggled against him, of course. It was the worst way to handle him, but they had no choice. With so much kids around, they couldn't take the risk of letting him and his powers rampage.

“Okay, take him in your arms, and put some pressure,” Ben instructed calmly. He was panicking, but he couldn't let it show. It had been a terrible idea to come here. Absolutely terrible. The worst. He went to Klaus, put a gentle hand on his forehead.

“You're having a flashback, buddy,” he informed him. “None of what you're seeing is real. We're in a cafeteria, we're waiting for food. Someone banged on the wall to silence the kids. Do you remember ?” Klaus didn't react right away. But he slowly calmed down, slowly started to come back to reality. Ben gestured at Luther to release his hold. They stayed like that for a while, Ben talking without pause, Klaus slowly starting to breath slower.

“What happened ?” A man asked behind them, his head popping right next to Ben's, making him flinch a bit harder than he'd liked.

“Take a wil fucking guess,” Ben spat at the vice principal.

 


	50. An actually kind of not so bad evening. Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm usually thinking a chapter or two ahead. Right now I'm in the 'what will happen in the next minute ?' kind of writing. It's a bit longer to write, but I'm getting there ! Hope you'll still enjoy it !
> 
> Oh ! And 50 chapters already ! Woohoo !

“Excuse me ?” Mr Ward demanded a bit surprised. Ben didn't have time to deal with him. He turned back to Klaus ; He extricated himself from Luther's arms, and proceeded to nervously straighten his jackets.

“Do you want to leave ? We can go back to our room.”

“Nah,” he answered weakly. “I'm actually kind of hungry.” He was smiling, but it was the kind of smile that actually meant 'I'm not okay, but please stop worrying”. Ben didn't like that smile, but he let go, and helped his brother up.

The room had gone quiet during their little trip under the table. A few frantic whispers traveled from table to table. Seated back in his chair, Klaus smiled and waved at the closest group of kids, making them shuffle uncomfortably and turn away in a panic.

“You may proceed,” Ben instructed the vice-principal frowning at him.

“Young man,” he started a bit on the defensive, but then sighed and deflated. “I wish I'd been told about this condition of yours,” he said, loking at each of them in turn. “I'm sincerely sorry. Is there anything I can do to help ?” Well, that was unexpected, to say the least. Usually people just shrugged it off and feigned to have seen nothing. Ben turned to Klaus. It was his choice ultimately, even if he knew his brother's answer already.

“Hum, no, thank you,” he predictably said, a bit disconcerted himself by the man's reaction.

“Okay,” mr Ward said with a smile and a concerned frown. He shuffled on his spot, then looked back at them. “I'll go do my speech, then. Oh, but fair warning, I have to present you to the school, it might get a bit noisy. Will that be alright ?” The five of them nodded, Klaus suggestively waving his brows to let him know it was okay for him to leave. And he was about to, too. But just as he started to turn heels, Five and Diego popped back in their respective seats.

“-ait !” Diego exclaimed right as they appeared, then immediately muffled a retch with a hand and grabbed the table to stabilize himself with the other. Mr Ward had stopped moving. He looked just like mom when they'd ask her a question that conflicted with her programming. Wild gasps exploded around them which turned into excited whisperings.

“Huh,” mr Ward finally said. “Right. Yeah. That.” He turned on his heels with wide eyes still, and walked back to his initial position, in the middle of the canteen.

“You good ?” Ben asked his two brothers.

“Yeah, yeah,” Diego dismissed with a weak wave of his hand. Five simply nodded solemnly, his eyes trained on his empty plate, a hand slicking back his hair.

 

“Alright, alright, so,” mr Ward called, trying to get everyone's attention back. “Tonight we're greeting seven newcommers, as you've all guessed already.” He had to pause to let the kids' excitement run it's course. He brought silence back with a few more 'alrights'. “I understand you're all elated and impatient to meet them. Yes, they're the famous Umbrella academy-” He was again interrupted by loud cheering, and seriously, couldn't they have done that before making them come here ? “But please, give them some space and respect their intimacy !” The kids were still gossiping among themselves, and mr Ward straightened in an obvious military stance. “Am I making myself clear ?” He suddenly threatened, effectively quieting the room down.

The man looked around the room with a scowl that reminded Ben of Sergeant Benett. Klaus seemed to think so too, because he shared a surprised but amused look with Ben. Some kids scoffed, suddenly not up to talking anymore.

“Am I,” mr Ward repeated, fiercely emphasizing each word, “Making myself clear ?” Okay, now he sounded like Father. The seven siblings straightened their backs instinctively. Ben felt Jamin shrivel inward uncomfortably.

“Yes, sir...” travelled across the room, the kids' voices soft, almost shameful. Strange. Shouldn't they all respond ? Shouldn't they... Sound scared ? And why did it seem to please mr Ward ? Shouldn't he demand Like... more or something ? Ben turned to his siblings, but they looked just as confused as him. Klaus pursed his lips and shrugged it off.

“Thank you,” mr Ward said softly, and that succesfully threw the siblings off. “Alright, in other news, the west bathrooms are open again ! I hope it won't get clogged again ?” He asked, looking around the room with a scowl, but... playfulness in his his voice ? “And now, let's eat !”

The kids cheered, and the ballet began. Carts of food got pushed along each alley, every kid suddenly passing along their plates in an almost hypnotic round. Ben and his siblings were so entranced with all of it, they didn't notice the man with the food cart at their own table.

“Hey, could you pass the plates around ?” A kid seating next to them at the table asked Ben.

“Huh, yeah, sure,” he said, taking the kid's plate, and giving his to Klaus, Klaus giving his to Luther, and finally, Luther giving his to the food cart guy. It was a lot slower than everyone else's tables, but they were finally all served.

“Thanks, man,” the kid next to Ben smiled, stretching his hand out for a handshake. Ben took it, a bit taken aback. “My name's Ariel, what's yours ?”

“Ben,” he answered with a smile.

“Cool, nice to meet y'all.”

They didn't speak much, still weirdly reminded of home and the strict no talking rule they couldn't seem to shake off. But Ariel and his friends did the talking. They all presented themselves, and made idle conversation the siblings would have found interesting if they could understand the references. So much references. Sure, Ben caught some of them, mainly because he could remember the various rantings of Klaus' plethora of flings. He'd also read some fiction books at the library, when it was too cold to stay outside and Klaus had nowhere else to go. But it wasn't nearly enough to follow the heated debates of five little kids about whatever 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' was.

All in all, and ignoring the very bad start of the evening. They spent an actual good time. Of course Five got very cranky when the cart boy laughed at his demand for coffee. When the table was cleared and the cart boy gone, Five squinted and smiled an evil grin.

“Well, it's not like the adults aren't drinking any, right ?” His eyes were locked on the adults' table, the one nearest to the kitchen. They did look like they were drinking coffee.

“No, wait,” Diego said too late. Five was gone. They all looked at the table, but he didn't go there. He got back with a mug full of steaming coffee, his shoulders untensing as he sniffed the aroma.

“Well, it's not premium, I'll tell you that,” he said in disdain.

“Where did you get it ?” Vanya asked with a grin. Five shrugged enigmatically.

 


	51. Breakfast and gravity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so right now it's all self-indulgent fluff, but honestly, the kids deserve it, right ?

“You've eaten nearly half of your plates,” Ben said, he hoped, off-handedly to Klaus and Five. “How come ? Are you insinuating we were bad cooks ?” Five scoffed and didn't deign answer.

“My dear Benny boy, you cooking is atrocious, everyone thinks. But they're all too polite to tell you.” Klaus was playing with his apple, but Ben didn't mind. He'd eaten more than the last two meals they'd had, anyway.

“Well, it's not like I ever had time to learn how to do it,” he answered with a grin.

 

The evening ended pleasantly, they parted ways with Ariel and his friends, then with Vanya and Allison. Ben couldn't wait to crash down on a real bed for the night, so much that he didn't bother wishing goodnight to everyone. It had been a very long day.

They woke up to one of Klaus' night terrors, and Ben silently climbed in his bed, hugging him and shushing him back to sleep.

 

“You know, I'm actually kind of enjoying this place for now,” Diego said while dressing up for breakfast.

“Yeah, it's weird, it's like...” Luther answered, making vague gestures to try and convey his words. “Nice ?” He concluded, and they all nodded. Yeah, kind of nice. Ben truly hoped it'd last.

They went back to the canteen accompanied by the boy from last night. Without Allison around, he talked a bit. His name was Colin, and he'd been appointed to help them get around for the first few days. They had gathered as much, but didn't say anything, instead simply thanked him.

Breakfast wasn't the same ritual as dinner ; There were four long tables against the closest wall from the entrance, and they had to go and serve themselves. Ben picked a bit of everything, ending with a hearty plate full of fruit, milk, cereal, jam, butter and toast. He'd used Their tentacles quiete a bit the day before, and that always made him hungrier than usual. Even Klaus picked a banana up, and Ben made a mental note to avoid looking at him until he was finished with it. Maybe he should warn Five, who sat in front of him. But he hadn't had any coffee yet, and Ben knew better than talk to him. And anyway, he jumped away before everyone was seated.

Allison and Vanya arrived with three other girls, politely listening their rambling before excusing themselves and joining the table. Five once again reappeared with a coffee mug and a smug grin.

“Alright, how the fuck are you doing that ?” Diego snapped before anyone else did.

“I told them I was ADHD and that coffee helped me manage it,” he smirked. They all shook their heads to varying degrees, and went on to eat their breakfasts. Five's confused and disgusted face told Ben that Klaus was at it again with his banana. It's like he couldn't help himself. Ben didn't look, made a point of it, but he had to say something.

“Klaus, there are kids watching, keep it down with that damn banana of yours.” Klaus snorted, and Five glared at him over his cup.

“Okay, brother dear,” Klaus finally conceided, the eye roll audible in his tone.

 

A group of kids approached them in the middle of their meal, and the one in front took the lead with resolve in his eyes.

“Hum, hi, excuse me for intruding and all, but-” He was fiddling with what looked like a paper plane. “Huh, we've been wondering with my friends about- about your powers...” He paused, scratched the back of his head, searched for his words.

“Whose ?” Allison asked softly, used to fans' requests and kids.

“Huh, number two's ? Huh,” he lifted his paper plane a little, didn't look at any of them. “We were wondering if your power could control that ?” He scanned the table for Diego, but seemed a bit unsure about who to look at.

“Oh !” Klaus exclaimed loudly. Ben would have jumped out of his skin if he wasn't used to it. Luther did. “How did I not think of that ?” Klaus ripped the paper plane from the boy's hand, and shoved it in Diego's face. “C'mon, try it !”

“Hey, hey, cool it, Klaus !” Ben scolded, forcefully seating him back down. “You scared the kid." Klaus turned to the boy and immediately untensed against Ben's hold.

“Sorry, boy,” he genuinely said.

“Nah, it's, huh, okay,” the kid dismissed with a confused frown. Klaus clapped his hand and turned back to Diego.

“So, so,” he sing-songed, “Go on, make it fly !” Diego inspected the plane from every angle.

“This won't do,” he said, “it won't fly.” He proceeded to unfold the plane under the kids' stares, and folded it again. In the end it looked nothing like the first one. He got up under everyone's gaze. "What, you think I never tried ?" And then threw it above the kids' heads, who quickly whipped around to follow it's course across the hall. Lots of other kids followed the plane in excitement, and even the adults at their table turned around to take a look. The plane flew above half the canteen, took a sudden U-turn, went back up for a meter or so, and then fell on the teachers' table. Everyone clapped. “Damn,” Diego said. “Whatever I do, I always loose control of the damn thing.”

“Is it because of the distance ?” Five theorised.

“Nah, I just-” Diego frowned, then shrugged. “I have control, and then it decides to stop flying.”

“Well, it obviously loses lift because there's no thrust,” Klaus commented, taking a bite of his banana.

“Klaus, for god's sake, there are kids,” Allison lectured him. Klaus frowned in confusion, and for once, it was Ben that snorted like an idiot.

“What ?” Klaus asked, still lost.

“Because you talked about 'thrust',” Klaus blinked.

“Well, yeah, the plane can't stay in the air if there's no thrust, it loses speed and so it looses lift, and then even with Diego's power, it can't keep flying without lift. It's like the law of gravity and stuff.”

“What ?” Diego repeated in the same lost tone as Klaus.

“How do you know so much about planes ?” Luther asked with a mix of astonishment, curiosity and delight.

“Hey !” Klaus defended, “I'm not as stupid as you all think, you know ?” He spinned his banana in the air dismissively, and looked back at Luther with a jaded expression. “And well, you learn a lot of boring stuff when you're stuck watching discovery channel in rehab.” Five sneered in his mug. “Oh ! Thrust ! Right !” Klaus finally realised.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> f you've got any school 'AU' headcanons that you'd like to read or anything, throw'em my way, I might cram a few in there !


	52. A teacher and a bad news

 

An adult arrived at the table, handing the paper plane back to the boy.

“Hi kids, I'm the physics' teacher,” she presented herself. “I heard what you kids were saying. And if that boy's right about lack of thrust being the issue, I wonder if you could make it fly indefinitely if it had some kind of engine.” The teacher's eyes were glowing with barely contained excitement.

“I don't,” Diego answered a bit forcefully, his knuckles going white around his fork and looking intently at his plate.

“Oh ?” The woman frowned and tilted her had to the side.

“Huh- Sorry. But- But- But I don't really want to-” Diego bit his lip and his face went red in anger and shame, if Ben had to guess. “-To do more tests. Please,” he concluded a little pitifully. The teacher didn't answer right away ; She blinked her surprise away.

“Oh I'm sorry boy, I didn't want to upset you. I just tend to get over-zealous when it comes to experiments.” Diego shuffled away from her at that. They all did, actually.

“Hum. Nah- It's- It's- It's-” Diego winced, rubbed the back of his head, and took a big breath. “It's alright-” The rest of them had kept quiet. What could they have said anyway ?

“Whoa, did I say something wrong ?” The teacher squatted down, and put a hand on Diego's back, who flinched imperceptibly. They all got ready to spring into action. No, let's not be stupid, she wouldn't hurt anyone, she was just a worried teacher trying to comfort a kid. Right ?

“No,” Diego breathed, a pinched smile on his lips. The teacher frowned again, and a tense silence ran it's course around the table.

Mr Wade made it's way through the group of kids with their paper plane.

“Miss Cruz, how about not bothering the kids with homework yet ?” The teacher, miss Cruz, got up to face the vice principal.

“I wasn't...” She started. But mr Wade subtly shook his head, and told her something to her ear, before turning to the seven of them.

“Good morning, kids. I see you're wearing your uniform again. You know you don't have to, right ?”

“We've been told to dress appropriately,” Luther answered with such naivety that Ben couldn't help but snort. He tried to cover it with a cough. It didn't seem to work, because Luther frowned at him.

“Hum,” mr Wade said, his eyes wandering toward Klaus and his eyeliner and nail polish. He couldn't possibly see the skirt, but he'd welcomed them the day before. “Right. Okay... Anyway, when you'll have finished breakfast, I'd like to ask you to follow me to the head mistress' office. There are still a lot of paper work to be done.”

“Sure,” Luther said. Mr Wade didn't wait for anything else, simply smiled and led the teacher and kids away.

They finished eating in silence, Diego absently stabbing his cereal, Klaus humming the tune of a futur hit.

 

They followed the vice principal along the corridors and into the head mistress' office ; They could tell by the bronze plaque on the door. It looked nothing like Father's study. It was bright, empty. There was only a bookshelf along the wall and a desk facing a huge window. Along with the head mistress, there were four other people in the room. One of them was miss Cromwell, the other three they didn't know. Everyone was seating down, and there were still eight extra chairs. They were told to sit down, so they did.

“So ? What about this paperwork ?” Five asked without preamble.

“Well, before hand, we need to talk,” the head mistress answered. Hmph. No good conversation ever started that way.

“If it's about Klaus' skirt, I really don't understand what the problem is,” Five said.

“No, no, It's not-” She waved her hands and shook her head. “Forget about this, it's- it's fine.” She turned to Klaus. “As long as you keep a decent length, that is,” she told him sternly.

“If that's all,” he laughed, wiping an imaginary tear away. Despite Klaus cheeriness, the atmosphere was weirdly tense, so much so that Jamin stirred uncomfortably, sending a shiver along Their spine.

“Miss Cromwell has been telling us about your background...” Another tense pause. “I'd like to introduce to you my colleagues,” she pointed at the three unknown people. “They're child psychologists, and they'll be happy to help you in any way that you'd need.”

“Urgh, not more of those...” Klause whispered in exasperation. Ben shuckled, but he'd actually like for his brother to take up the offer. He'd have to gently nudge him their way.

“I have news about your father,” Miss Cromwell butted in when the silence went on for a bit too long.

“What is it ?” Luther shot forward, barely sitting on the edge of his seat.

“For now he's being detained, but they'll need a formal complaint to keep him longer. They tried to reach your house, but your butler, he... Well, apparently, he's reluctant to give any testimony.” Obviously, seeing as he was a chimpanzee.

“What about mom ?” Diego asked without missing a beat. “Shit, she's a robot...” He added with a sigh.

“So what you're saying is that we'll have to do it,” Allison cut him off. Miss Cromwell, stirred on her seat.

“If your butler keeps refusing to cooperate, I'm afraid so, yes. And, with the kind of money you father has, he might be able to get out on bail-”

“Shit,” Five spat. He slicked his hair back, and jumped. He came back about two seconds later, with a notebook and a pen, and started pacing around the room while scribbling down. Nobody spoke for a second, the adults too entrenced with Five's jumping and pacing around, and the siblings too wrapped into their own freakout to say anything. “And without the influence of your rumors, he'll come for us.”

 


	53. Terror

' _He's coming for Us_.' Jamin's thoughts echoed in Their skull. ' _He's coming for Us_.' Their panic sipped into Ben's own thoughts. His vison faded quickly even as he tried to reason with Them. Father wouldn't hurt Them anymore, They weren't alone, the others knew-

 

“He's. Coming. For. Us.” Their voice cracked on the last word. A hand squeezed Theirs. Klaus'.

“Jamin ?” His voice was soft and They wanted to hold him, protect him from Father. They wanted to feel the warmth of Their brother, They wanted to cry and hide in a corner, and- “Hey, Jamin, it'll be okay, we'll protect each other, right ?”

' _Yeah, listen to Klaus, we'll all protect each other. Don't worry._ '

“No ! He'll. Put. Needles. In. Our. Brain. Again. And. He'll. Make. Us. Kill. Each. Other. Again. And. He'll. Kill. You. And-” A strong hold on the shoulders made Them jolt to a stop and look up. Luther.

“Hey, we won't let him hurt you,” he said as if they had a choice. The breathing was weird. Too fast. Irregular.

“We. Have. No. Choice.” They'd told them, right ? How Father would kill them all if They didn't obey. “He'll. Make. Us !” They didn't know how to slow the breathing. The head felt heavy, the chest tight. Luther's eyes were wide now, surely he undertood, yes ?

“Klaus ?” he asked, before turning to him. They could hear Klaus shush at Them, the way They'd shush him when he had night terrors. Their siblings had no idea. No idea, no idea-

“Hey, Jamin ?” Allison said. She'd taken Luther's place, crouched in front of Them. They didn't look right away. The adults were moving behing Their siblings. Just in case, They took out a few tentacles, made them slither onto the ground, ready to defend everyone. A hand on Their chin forced Them to look down at Allison. “Focus on me,” she ordered. “Will you breath for me ?” They couldn't. Their siblings didn't understand.

“He'll. Kill. Us.” They pleaded instead of breathing. “He'll. Kill. Us. Again.” They cried now, Their already small field of vision blurring with tears.

' _He won't touch Us anymore. I won't let him. And neither will they_.'

“I won't obey him anymore, Jamin, it won't happen again. Now, please, breath for me, yes ?” They felt Klaus' grip tighten around Their waist, They looked back at the adults approaching, reared the tentacles between them and Their siblings like a protective wall. They hissed with Their cracked voice, and it didn't sound intimidating. They tried to get up, but Klaus wouldn't let Them.

' _Calm down, buddy._ '

“Klaus, do you think it's alright if I make Them calm down ?”

' _Listen to her, calm down_.'

“What ?” Diego butted in, anger in his voice and lips curled up. “You want to rumor Them ? Like it went so well last time you did it right ?”

“It won't be the same thing, and you know it,” she snapped at him. “Look at Them, They need help !”

“Do it,” Klaus said. “Do it quick.” There was a pause.

' _Come on buddy. Breathe_.'

“Jamin ?” Allison said, once again turning Their head toward her with a hand. “I heard a rumor you calmed down.”

A blanket fell on Them. A fuzzy, cold blanket that crushed Them under it's weight. Cruched the panic away, mellowed everything until They couldn't remember why They were in command. They looked down at the retreating tentacles, absently watching as they writhed on the floor and back to Them. Back into nothingness and cold darkness. They were still crying. Father was still coming for Them. They could do nothing about it now, but endure the fear freezing everything in Their insides.

“Jamin ?” They heard in the distance, before They relinquished the commands back to _him_. Before They went back to hide as far away as They could into the empty nothing.

 

Ben came back and wailed. He fell into Klaus' hug, held onto him with everything he had. He cried and shivered and sobbed grossly into his brother's hair.

“They're so fucking terrified,” he whimpered and Klaus tightened his grip even more. “Klaus-” He managed to say before he could do nothing else but cry.

“Tell Them They don't have to worry anymore,” Five said with this cold, fierce gaze of his. “I'm going to kill him. Diego, give me a knife,” he ordered with a hand up, not even looking as Diego, without a word, gave him his favorite knife, the one with golden streaks, the one always by his side.

“No !” Ben managed to say before Five jumped. “If you do that, he'll haunt Klaus ! Please,” he pleaded between two hiccups.

“It's okay, as long as he's dead,” Klaus replied, “I'll find a way to banish him.”

“Wow wow wow,” the head mistress said, taking a step forward and shaking her head. “Noone is killing anyone, what are you on about ?” Five jumped his way to the woman, appearing right in front of her, his back straight as an arrow. He kept the hand with the knife behind his back, so that was good, right ?

“Listen, young lady,” he scolded, and Ben could never doubt that his brother was in fact fifty-eight years old anymore. “Reginald raised perfect soldiers, perfect killers, and by god, he'll suffer for that mistake if it's the last thing I do.” He looked at each adult in turn with a bone-chilling scowl. “You have no say in this. Stay out of it.” He turned back around to them with empty eyes and a grin that would scare the devil. “I'll be right back.”

He was gone.

 


	54. Terror, bis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so. This chapter is completely skippable. It's a rewrite of the previous chapter, 'Terror'. 
> 
> The thing is, I had to write it in an outsider's perspective, because I couldn't imagine how the adults would react. I wrote it, and I figured maybe you might enjoy reading it while I write next chapter (which is giving me a hard time, let's be honest.)
> 
> So, there, enjoy :)

“He's. Coming. For. Us.” The kids' voice'd turned into something... inhuman, that was all she could tell. It was as if multiple voices intertwined in each other into a bone chilling, yet fascinating choir of male and female and everything in between. She couldn't tell if it was terrifying or not, but it was beautiful.

His eyes had changed as Well. From kind and caring and profoundly black, a shocking shade of sulfur sipped into them, the irises flattening to look like those of a goat. It was horrifying as much as it was incredible.

And despite that, despite the otherworldly voice, despite the monstrous eyes, the boy's desperate pleading tore into her soul and forced a tear down her cheek. The boy in the skirt took his hand.

“Jamin ?” He called him. Weird name. “Hey, Jamin, it'll be okay, we'll protect each other, right ?” He told him in a soft voice, a worried frown scrutinizing his brother.

“No ! He'll. Put. Needles. In. Our. Brain. Again. And. He'll. Make. Us. Kill. Each. Other. Again. And. He'll. Kill. You. And-” A strong hold on the shoulders made Them jolt to a stop and look up. The blond boy. What the everloving fuck was he talking about ? Needles in his brain ? Making them kill each other ? _Again_ ? What monster did that to children ?

He always seemed so noble and proper when she'd seen him on TV, and now the mere thought that she'd ever considered him a good man made her gag She'd personally hunt down that Reginald bastard, if it weren't for the laws of this land.

“Hey, we won't let him hurt you,” the blond boy told him, even as he started to hyperventilate.

“We. Have. No. Choice. He'll. Make. Us !” She would have leapt from her seat and taken him in her arms, if it wasn't for the boy in a skirt already doing so.

“Klaus ?” The blond seemed as lost as she was, his voice strangled by incoming tears. Klaus, the skirt boy, shushed and hugged Jamin, while one of the sisters pushed the blond away and crouched at his feet.

“Hey, Jamin ?” The sister said. Miss Rees took a step toward the small bundle of freaked out kids, but fucking tentacles surged from the boy's stomach ! He looked at her with his strange eyes filled with tears. Of course, she'd read about them, about their powers, about Number Six, The Horror.

But to see it with her own eyes ! It was definitely something else. The boy teleporting across the room and muttering death threats didn't look so breath taking anymore. She looked at her colleagues, just as lost as she was, and they collectivelly, without a word, decided to take a step back. “Focus on me,” his sister ordered. “Will you breath for me ?”

“He'll. Kill. Us. He'll. Kill. Us. Again.” They pleaded pitifully instead of breathing. By all the saints, could it get worse ? And what did he mean by ' _again_ ' ?

“I won't obey him anymore, Jamin, it won't happen again. Now, please, breath for me, yes ?” And why the fuck did the sister seem to understand ? Miss Rees couldn't help but take a step forward again ; She had to do something, anything.

Little creature Jamin looked at her and hissed, his tentacles rearing up. It would have been threatening, hell, downward terrifying, if it wasn't for the crack in his voice, for the tears flowing down his cheeks, from the fear of his own fucking father !

 

The other sister watched the scene in stunned silence, her eyes, miss Rees could swear, paling by the second. At her side, the hispanic brother rubbed his mouth in consternation. The last brother looked on, a bit removed from the scene. Every so often, he'd slick his hair back and hiss a lot more threateningly than the supposed monster currently crying and struggling for air over there.

“Klaus, do you think it's alright if I make Them calm down ?”

“What ?” The hispanic boy butted in, anger in his voice and lips curled up. “You want to rumor Them ? Like it went so well last time you did it right ?”

“It won't be the same thing, and you know it,” she snapped at him. “Look at Them, They need help !”

“Do it,” Klaus said. “Do it quick.” There was a pause.

“Jamin ?” Allison said, once again turning Their head toward her with a hand. “I heard a rumor you calmed down.”

And just like that, Jamin, The horror the media had called him, stopped crying. He took a big gulp of air as he looked down at the retreating tentacles, absently watching as they writhed on the floor and back to him. He was still crying, and the yellow of his eyes faded slowly, going back to normal.

“Jamin ?”

 

And suddenly, it was as if the boy turned into a completely different person. He wailed, and fell into Klaus' hug, held onto him with everything he had. He cried and shivered and sobbed grossly into his brother's hair.

“They're so fucking terrified,” he whimpered and Klaus tightened his grip even more. “Klaus-” He managed to say before he could do nothing else but cry. Okay, she'll definitely hug him. No way in hell she'll let the boy leave without one.

“Tell Them They don't have to worry anymore,” the last brother, the one that had said nothing but watched with anger and a cold, fierce gaze. “I'm going to kill him. Diego, give me a knife,” he ordered with a hand up, not even looking as Diego, without a word, gave him a knife that had apparently come from nowhere.

“No !” the tentacle boy cried. “If you do that, he'll haunt Klaus ! Please,” he pleaded between two hiccups.

“It's okay, as long as he's dead,” Klaus replied, “I'll find a way to banish him.” When the kid suggested murder, honestly, she was completely behind him. She couldn't say that, obviously.

“Wow wow wow,” she had to interrupt now, taking a step forward and shaking her head. “Noone is killing anyone, what are you on about ?” The murderous boy jumped right in front of her, and she jumped back, barely suppressing a scream. He stood straight as an arrow and kept the hand with the knife behind his back.

“Listen, young lady,” he scolded her. She listened, in stunned silence, the boy rant to her in a tone she could not conceive belonging to a thirteen year old. He sounded ancient and bitter, wary and _dangerous_. “Reginald raised perfect soldiers, perfect killers, and by god, he'll suffer for that mistake if it's the last thing I do.” He looked at each adult in turn with a bone-chilling scowl. “You have no say in this. Stay out of it.” He turned back around to his siblings. “I'll be right back.”

He was gone.

 

Was he- Was he really off to kill his father ?

 


	55. Not quiet as planned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not pleased with this chapter. But I need to let it go, because else I'll get stuck on it forever. It does the job at least. So whatever. Sorry.

Five was gone to kill Father. And... Jmain was gone too. Gone from the back of his thoughts, gone even farther than when they'd been dead. For the first time of his life, Ben was completely and utterly alone. His brain was his own, and he hated it. It was terrifying, empty. Lonely.

He wanted to tell Klaus, but the words got stuck in his throat.

“What's wrong, Benny ?” his brother asked anyway. Ben couldn't say anything, so he shook his head instead.

“Is... Is he really going to kill your father ?” One of the psychologists said.

“Yeah, that's happening alright,” Diego answered dryly, his glare fixed on the farthest wall.

“Kids, you-” The head mistress was interrupted.

 

Five came back in a flurry, stumbled backward, collided with the bookshelf behind him, and dropped on his ass. He clutched at his hair for dear life, forced a breath out, his eyes trained on Diego's knife. It was clean.

“Five ?” Vanya asked with a calmness that could only be fake. He turned his eyes on her, but Ben wans't sure he actually saw her. “Did you... ?” She trailed, unable to finish.

Five opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He shook his head instead.

No.

Ben couldn't really tell if he was relieved or not. Probably. Right ?

“What- What happened ?” Diego said. Five swallowed, licked his lips, shrugged.

“Couldn't...” He mumbled under his breath. He looked just as shaken as when he'd seen the ghost of the woman he'd killed.

“What ?” Luther pressed on, taking a step toward Five.

“I couldn't get to him,” he said angrily. “He was right there,” he waved at the air in front of him. “And I- I was frozen, for fuck's sake !” He spat out. “He was watching me with those fucking empty eyes of his, and-” The rest of his sentence got stuck in his throat, his eyes watering as he tried to say more, and shrugged again.

“Hey, dude, it's alright,” Ben offered.

“Yeah, we'd have been in deep shit if you actually-” Diego continued.

“No ! The bastard deserves to die !” Five turned his intense gaze on Ben. Not quiete apologetic per se, more angry and disgusted, but it was as close as he'd get to a nactual pleading look.

Ben frowned and went to sit by his side after extricating himself from Klaus' hold.

“Dude, seriously,” he sighed, “You can't just go around and murder people you don't like.” Five snorted at that, his shoulders jolting up.

“Actually-”

“Shut up.” Ben shook his head and very indiscreetly nodded toward the adults. “It's illegal, you idiot.” It made Five snicker a bit more, and he slicked his hair back before he finally let go of it with a sigh. He made Diego's knife dance around his finger, then threw it at it's owner's face without warning. Diego caught it, of course.

“How can you say that so casually when you were bawling your eyes out just a minute ago ?” Ben pinched his lips, the words still caught in his throat.

“They're gone,” he said at last.

“Excuse me ?”

“Jamin. They're gone.”

“What- What- What d'you mean ?” Diego swallowed hard.

“I mean, huh...” How to explain this anyway ? “They're supposed to be around in there,” he showed the back of his head. “But there's nothing. It's empty.”

“Is it... Because of me ?” Allison gasped.

“Well, I mean, yeah. You told Them to calm down and like- I can't really explain, but... They need strong emotions to- to, you know, come forward, and- and you squished that and They're terrified and-”

“Oh my God,” she cried, “I'm so sorry, I-”

“No no, you did the right thing, I'm light headed already, They were gonna make Us pass out if you didn't...”

“Are They gone, like, forever ?” Luther asked.

“I mean, I don't think so... I hope not,” his voice quivered.

A long, awkward pause ensued. Ben didn't want to look up frow his hands yet, didn't want to meet anyone's gaze. It felt so weird without Them. He'd never paid attention to Their presence before. They'd always been there, even when he was dead, he could feel Their presence.

“So. Should we fill this paperwork, or do you want to keep talking about our fucked up childhood ?” Klaus chimed in.

 

It seemed they had enough of their shit background for now. The head mistress sent the three psycholgues on their way, with a promise from the siblings to go see them whenever they'd be ready to do so and a groan from Klaus. And then they filled paperwork. It wasn't too long, just a bit boring.

Ben was used to Jamin's opinion. They'd always given it, on everything he did, even if he'd never paid too much attention to it until he came back to life, even if it was just an unspoken feeling They'd share, a vague vibe of _something_ ™. And now, alone in his thoughts, he missed the fucker.

Where the hell were They ?

 

Apparently, the only thing left to do before they could attend class was to assess their knowledge. Well. That would go well, right ?

 


	56. Introspection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time is a fickle thing, and it flies when one tries to write. This took longer than I expected, but writing blindly takes a long time D:

Before they could leave the room, the head mistress walked up to Ben and planted herself in front of him.

 “Can I give you a hug ?” She asked with a determined look but a trembling voice.

Well, that was weird.

“Huh,” Ben answered awkwardly, recoiling half an inch away from the woman instinctively.

 “Oh, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” she raised her hands in front of her and stepped back.

 “I'd like a hug !” Klaus chimed in, and jumped on the woman without warning.

 “Oh !” She exclaimed, but a smile quickly replaced her surprise. "Right." And she hugged him back.

They finally exited the office, and followed the vice principal out.

 “I'll need some time to set up the test. Is there anything you'd like to do in the meantime ?”

 “Well, I need to go and change ! I can't very well run in this outfit,” Klaus said as he twirled his skirt and clicked his heels on the floor.

 “You want to go for a run ?” Mr ward smiled.

 “Not really.” The vice principal frowned, but didn't say anything. He let them go to their room on their own after they convinced him they remembered the way. They crossed paths with a few children, who stared them down but otherwise kept their distances.

 “Do you think I can get out of it if I say I died yesterday ?” Klaus asked while taking apart his bag of clothes and trying everything on.

 “They need to know what we can do. You might delay it, but you'll have to do it eventually,” Five answered absent-mindedly, scribbling on his notepad. Klaus pouted and kept looking for an outfit.

 

 Ben took the time to introspect a little, try to find Jamin. They couldn't have gone far, right ? Maybe with a bit of meditation They might show back up ? So Ben lied down on his bed, closed his eyes, and searched. Well, that was the plan anyway.

 “Oof !” Something heavy fell on him. Klaus, of course.

 “What are you doing ?” He asked as if he hadn't just tried to give him a heart attack. “Benny ?” He said when he didn't answer right away.

 “I'm looking for Jamin !” He tried to grunt, but he could only smile at Klaus.

 “Oh,” Klaus said, concern immediately painting his face. “Can I help ?”

 “Nah, I don't even know what to look for.” Klaus had his wide green eyes set on him.

 “I can stay there and keep you warm.” Ben laughed and relaxed under his brother.

 “Yeah, you do that.”

 

First he tried thinking of nothing, but he almost fell asleep at some point. Then he thought about something. What about the 'back seat' ? He'd been there already, he simply hadn't been the one to 'go' there, Jamin had forced Their way up front. He remembered the feeling of it though, so how hard could it be to do it himself ? So he focused on going there. For what seemed like forever, he floated in a haze of half-consciousness. But he finally did it !

'Jamin ?' He tried calling. Nothing. Maybe now that he was there, he could go further ? He tried it.

It took a very long time. To just understand what he was trying to reach even. It was like trying to think of a new color. He imagined himself falling down a cliff, like they show on movies, to try and reach the 'bottom of his mind'. It didn't work.

He tried to imagine the 'other dimension', where Jamin was supposed to be laying. In the comics he'd read about themselves, artists always depicted it as a pocket-dimension that looked like outer space. But maybe those artists had read too much Lovecraft, because it didn't feel like that.

 

He found it eventually. It wasn't 'another dimension'. It wasn't even 'another space in his mind'. It was just there. Part of his thoughts. For each thought he had, there, intertwined together were Jamin's. And Jamin Themself. Right now They were a mess of terror, fear and sadness. But the numb kind. The kind that left someone just standing there, unable to do anything.

'Jamin ?' They didn't answer. Didn't care to. They weren't asleep, Ben could tell. 'Hey Dude, come on, talk to me.'

'…'

'Y'know, I was worried about You.'

'…'

'You scared me, I thought You'd disappeared. It's lonely up there without You.'

'…'

'You know, I'll never let Father hurt you again.'

'… We...'

 

Ben jerked awake when Klaus slapped him across the face.

“What the fuck ?!” Ben exclaimed, suddenly sitting straight in his bed, making Klaus fall off him and roll onto the floor. “For fuck's sake, I was almost there !” He hissed, before the fog of sleepiness lifted and he turned to properly look at Klaus. “Uh. You okay ?” He smiled and gave a thumbs up.

“Toutes mes excuses, cher frère,” he said, “But we have to go,” he pointed at the door, where Mr Ward looked a tiny bit surprised and a little amused. “Did you find Them ?” Klaus asked as he got up and dusted himself.

“Yeah, They're just sulking in the corner.” It made Klaus beam, and then they all followed the vice principal across the school.

What kind of tests would they have to do ? Because if they had to perform with their powers, Ben didn't think he'd be able to do anything today. Maybe it wouldn't be too gruesome. Maybe if they said they were out of practice, they'd be lenient.

 

They started with a written questionnaire. Mathematics, geography, english study and History. All of it was pretty basic, they'd learned all of it by the time they were ten, and were all finished in half an hour. Five had finished in fifteen minutes, and had spent the rest of the time on his own notepad.

“You're already done ?” Mr Ward asked incredulously when they all went up to him to give him their copy.

“Well, yeah, all this is pretty basic,” Luther answered. Mr Ward took a quick look at the papers, before getting up.

“Well kids, this looks excellent. I'll need some time to assess everything. How about going back to your activities ?”

“We're all ready for the rest of the tests, so let's go now, you can look at those later.” Five crossed his arms.

“What ? What rest of the tests ? This is it, kids.”

“What ?”

 


	57. First class. Almost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, those chapters keep getting tougher and tougher to write down. Maybe I need a little break. But I'd like to reach like, a certain status quo in the story before doing so. Or maybe I need more ideas. If you have any, I'm all ears !
> 
> About the flashback I talked about writing during the police station part about Diego picking up Klaus ; It escaped my mind, and the timing passed, but I also just realised, that I already wrote it. If you're interested, go check out my other fic, 'cold feet' (the summary is misleading, but it's a 'diego picks Klaus up from the station' fic (given it's more Diego-centric than Klaus-centric but hey), I swear :))
> 
> And damn, I always forget to share it, but if you're interested to know what Jamin's voice sounds like in my head, check out Dormin's voice from the video game 'shadow of the colossus', that's what They sound like to me :)

“What d'you mean, that's it ?” Diego asked. It made the man frown and tilt his head to the side.

“Well. I mean that's... it ? What did you think it'd be ?”

“Hum. You know, the physicals ?” Luther provided.

“As in P.E. ? We don't need to test that. We just need to know what subjects you've covered, so you won't be lost during class.”

“Alright... What about testing our powers ?” Five continued.

“You want us to test your powers ? Why ?”

“Because... Tests ?” Everyone looked at each other in turn, silent incomprehension running it's course in the classroom.

“Well, rest assured, I've got all I need to know right there,” he smiled softly, shaking the seven tests.

“So you're saying I could have kept my heels ?” Klaus said indignantly. He was wearing the academy's shoes right now, but had kept the skirt. He'd said if Allison could go on missions with a skirt, so could he. Mr Ward blinked and mouthed an 'Oh'.

“So that's why- The running...” He shuckled, and put the tests down on his desk. “Actually, about those heels. They're not up to dress code. They're too high, it's a safety hazard. Klaus pouted, so mr Ward kept talking. “Maybe you could wear lower ones ? Or other girls' shoes...” Oh, that wasn't something to tell Klaus.

“Girls' shoes ? They're not girls' shoes, they're my shoes.” He crossed his arms and gave a death glare to the vice principal.

“Huh. Right,” the vice principal said, and to his credit bounced back pretty quickly. “Yeah, you're right, my apologies.” He smiled wider, leaned on his desk. “The heels are still a security issue though.”

“Urgh, alright already,” Klaus rolled his eyes.

 

After that, mr Ward gently threw them out of the room after encouraging them to go explore the school on their own. So they did. The corridors were deserted ; that probably meant class was in session. The only reason they walked around the school was probably so they could learn the layout of the place, be ready for an attack. Ben should pay attention too. But the lack of Their presence made it hard for him to focus on anything for too long. It was like half his though processing power was gone.

“What are you doing here, kids ?” A teacher asked them from the threshold of a classroom. They all turned to the woman, who simply stared them down with her arms crossed and a frown.

“Huh, the vice principal told us to explore the school,” Luther answered.

“Really ?” She didn't sound convinced. “On your own, just like that ? And where are you planning to go ?” Luther looked at Five for support.

“We're just exploring, we've never been to school before, ma'am,” Vanya answered when it was obvious noone else had an answer to give.

“Really ? Do you want to come in and follow my lesson ?” She seemed satisfied at her idea. Five less so.

“Do we have a choice ?”

“Hum. Good question. I'd feel better if you weren't running around on your own.” She smiled gently. Five turned around, eyebrows raised and waiting for their opinion. Vanya was the first to shrug, and she was soon followed by the rest of them.

“Yeah, alright, what the hell, let's do this,” Five told the teacher.

“Really ? Great ! Well, come in then,” she was about to push Five into the classroom, but as soon as her hand brushed his back, he flinched away and very conspicuously reached for a gun in his jacket. He didn't have one right now, but if he had... Five turned the momentum of his instinctive reaction around, straightened his jacket, slicked his hair back and cleared his throat.

The teacher didn't react. Didn't she see what had been about to happen ? Maybe she wanted to be polite. Maybe she was still shaken by Five's kneejerk reaction at her touch. And anyway, a clamor erupted from the classroom, and stole Five's whole attention. The teacher silently gestured at the rest of them to come in, surprise still lingering on her traits.

They found themselves in front of twenty children, all looking at them and excitedly talking over each other.

“Alright, alright, already !” The teacher tried to calm the class down. “Let's all calm down a notch, shall we ?” It took a while, and Ben observed Klaus' reaction closely. He smiled widely. Right. Klaus would be alright. What about the others ? Allison was in her element, obviously. Vanya didn't seem to mind ; She did play in a big orchestra, she might actually be used to this. Diego and Luther had uncosciously assumed the academy's business stance ; _Straighten up ! Hands in the back ! A solemn expression and pride in your eyes ! There will be no nonsense in front of the world !_

Urgh. A shiver went up Ben's spine, and he realised he'd assumed the stance as well. With great effort, he relaxed and made a point of standing as loosely as he could muster.

Five wasn't doing so good. It was obvious he was battling with himself not to jump out of the room.

Finally, silence came back.

“Okay. Shall we finally welcome the newcommers, or do you want to keep being impolite ?” The kids groaned, Allison shuckled, and the teacher smiled at her. “Do you want to present yourself, or would you prefer to settle down ? We can carry on with our lesson so you can observe.” Five was too occupied with keeping it together to answer, and Luther wasn't used to be given choices, so Diego answered.

“Yeah, I think we'd rather skip the presentation.” The teacher smiled, and gestured at the classroom.

“Well then, be my guest. Find yourselves a seat, and let's do this.”

 


	58. Military tactics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> disclaimer : I know nothing of the civil war (I'm not american), I've only made like a ten minutes search on dear wikipedia. So, historians, try not to pop a vessel over it :)

 

Ten free chairs, and none of them next to each other. The seven siblings scattered around the room. Ben worried for Klaus, but really, those were kids. What could possibly go wrong ? Ben sat next to a tiny girl, smiling shyly while moving her stuff to give him space. She slid a book between them.

“So, where were we again ?” The teacher asked confusedly. Half the kids sighed, the other half chanted in perfect discord.

“Page hundred and twenty three, civil war,” was all Ben got out of all the commotion.

“Oh, right !” Ben looked down on the book on the table, open on page hundred and twenty three. There a couple of paintings of a battlefield with the american flag floating on one side, and the confederate one on the other. A modern looking photo of a soldier, with 'historical reenactment' written as legend, took a quarter of the right page. The rest of the space was filled with text boxes. “What do you seven know about the civil war ?” The teacher looked at Luther, the one closest to her. Luther didn't need to think ; He'd been studying military tactics the hardest, since he's been supposed to lead the others.

“Well, they were following ' _Infantry Tactics, or Rules for Manoeuvers of the United States Infantry'_ by Winfield Scott and ' _Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics: for the Instruction, Exercise and Maneuver of Riflemen and Light Infantry'_ by William J. Hardee. The Generals used the Napoleonic tactics, but because of the increase of firepower, there were too many casualties in the beginning of skirmishes. They didn't switch tactics right away though, because the smoke the muskets generated would obscure the battlefield very quickly, so they kept relying on traditionnal infantry.”

“Well, that's... Interresting.” The teacher frowned, an incredulous look down on Luther's straigh figure. “What about the reasons the war started ?”

“They didn't like each other, probably,” Luther shrugged. The teacher blinked, opened her mouth, then closed it back.

“Huh, I mean, you're not wrong...” She did a double-take. “I'm sorry, but you know the full names of military tactics' books, but you don't know why the civil war started ?”

“Does it matter ? It's over.” The woman looked at all of them in turn, her frown deepening as none of them seem to understand the problem she was seeing.

“I could tell who I had to...” Five started. “I mean who had to die for it to start, if you want.”

“What ? Who ?”

“Eloise Johnson and James White. Their deaths sparked the whole affair. The confederates were convinced James White was killed by former slaves, and Eloise Johnson was a former slave wed to an important man at the time.”

“How do you... I mean who are those people ? I've never heard of them,” she said as she scribbled down on a piece of paper.

“Obviously,” Five scoffed. “That's the whole point of...” He gestured vaguely above his head. “Hum.” He didn't say anything else.

“Well, all of this is really interesting. Do you know anything else ?” Klaus raised his hand and didn't wait for the teacher to react.

“I had to talk to this dude once, he died on the battle of Gettysburg, like, the first day of his enrollment. He wasn't making too much sense, because half his brain was blown off by a musket shot, but he said none of them knew what they were fighting for. They were farmers and the harvest had been bad that year, so they needed the money.” Whispers trailed around the room.

“You're... You're the one who talks to ghosts.” Was all the teacher found to say.

“Not when I can help it,” Klaus winked at her.

“Wow, this is so cool !” a kid exclaimed somewhere from the back of the class.

“Are there any ghosts in here ?” Another asked from the other end. The teacher was about to interrupt the conversation, but Klaus answered before that.

“Huh, I don't know.”

“Okay, children...”

“How can you not know ? Isn't that your power ?” The first kid asked.

“Well, I try to block them whenever I can, they're not exactly fun to hang around, you know ?” Ho. He was high. That explained how he could be so relaxed ; He probably used the weed they'd bought the other day. He apparently used the right dosage this time. Good.

“Hey, why are you wearing a skirt ?”

“Alright, this is a bit off topic, children, let's refocus on...” The teacher tried to stir the conversation away from Klaus, but it didn't really work. The kids weren't listening to her. Every head was turned on Klaus, and he simply smiled like an idiot. Weed could do wonders when handled correctly.

“Because why not ?” He said, and with that, he had all the kids dumbfounded.

“Well, skirts are for girls, for starters,” A boy in the back said.

“Why ? Who said that ?” Klaus had his head in his hand, and kept smiling softly. The boy cleared his throat, and didn't have an answer. “Have you never heard of kilts anyway ?”

 

On that, the bell rang, and the seven sibling jumped on their feet, military stance. Shit. Was it really just being back in their uniforms that made them so jumpy ? Did the fact that they were back in their thirteen years old bodies play into it ? It had only been what, ten days ? Maybe their bodies were still conditionned. Yes, that was surely it, right ? It'll pass, probably. A few puzzled looks later, and they were out of there. Five was nowhere to be found, unsurprisingly ; The commotion had been too much for him.

 

 


	59. The Queen of the game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was wondering, and it might be a spoiler for season 2 so be warned. But when we see in episode five, old!Five leave from his sniper point to (presumably) kill Kennedy, he doesn't actually kill him right ? But then we hear the announcer say that he got shot anyway. And we know they're going back to the sixties in season two. Is that what they're going to do ? Finish Five's job ?

The initial plan was to wait for the wave of kids to clear out of the room to make a move. But obviously said kids hovered around and followed them into the corridor, buzzing around and asking questions none of the siblings could feasably answer or even understand in all the commotion.

Until Diego got upset and made it known.

“Hey kiddos, how about giving us some space to breathe ?” His voice was snappier than strictly necessary, but it did the job. The kids left with minimal groaning, thanks to Allison's soft apologies.

“So, where could dear Fivey be ?”

“Yesterday evening I found him on the bench in the courtyard,” Diego shared.

“Maybe I should give him some of my mixture, it might work wonders on his nerves,” Klaus said cheekily as they went.

Sure enough, Five was sat on a bench, in the middle of a small garden nestled inside the school grounds. A group of three kids were talking to him. They stood at a respectable distance from him, and he didn't seem too bothered.

“-go anywhere in the world, or do you have a distance limit ?”

“Don't really know what my distance limit is, but the mongest jump I ever did was from Dallas to the mansion,” Five answered the scrawniest of the three kids. “Not two weeks ago actually.” He had the softest smile Ben had ever seen on their brother's face. And it disappeared as soon as he saw his siblings arrive.

Huh.

Ben would probably have felt hurt if he didn't know. Didn't know how softness, and by extension weakness -And he hated that these two were forever linked in his mind- were frowned upon in their family. Right, that was it.

Right ? Just another twisted reflex from their fucked up childhood. It was definitely not because their presence reminded him of every trauma he had to live through...

Nah.

“Were you in Dallas for an academy mission ? Did you teleport all your siblings there ? Or did they come back normally,” a kid asked excitedly.

“I was alone in Dallas,” Five answered, his hand up in protection. “It was a solo mission.”

“What was it ?”

“Huh. Top Secret.” And Ben thought the kids had been excited before. It didn't help them calm down when they saw the rest of the Umbrella Academy arrive. One of them squealed, which made Klaus giggle.

“Hey, why are you here anyway ?” Right. They should have thought that question was coming. Should they tell the truth ? What was considered child friendly about their childhood ? What was the line-

“Our father's a shitty man, so we're here now,” Klaus answered with a dismissive hand thrown in the air. “But nevermind, is that a basket ball I spy in your hands ?” The kids turned their gaze toward said ball before they reacted.

“Yeah ! You play ?” The squealy one asked with a broad smile and sparks in her eyes.

“I do !”

“You do ?” the other five siblings asked in astonishment.

“Hey,” Klaus turned to them all and stuck his tongue out at them. “Don't act so surprised, assholes. What do you think people do in the streets all day ?”

“Smoke ?”

“Do drugs ?”

“Get wrecked ?”

“Urgh, y'all are unbelievable,” Klaus rolled his eyes as he silently asked for the ball. The girl gave it to him with a big toothy smile, and he started to dribble expertly. “Well, for your information, I've been dubbed the Wolverine's Point Guard Queen.” At that, Diego snorted so hard he hurt his throat, and received a death glare from his brother.

“It's true though,” Ben intervened. Diego turned to him wide round eyes. “He's won a few street competitions.” Ben enjoyed his siblings' expressions of disbelief. He wished Jamin would come out of Their sulking and boast about Klaus with him. They didn't.

“C'mon Benny, play with us.” Klaus threw the ball at him, hit him right in the face before he could even react. He blinked away the stupor.

“What the fuck, Klaus ?” The pain didn't arrive yet. His whole face was numb. And Klaus covered his mouth his hands, surprise on his stupid face. Ben's eyes watered. It was, after all, the same brother that threw bowling balls at him. The pain exploded at once, tears ran down his cheeks, blood trickled from his nose into his mouth. They stirred in his head.

Oh, now They woke up.

“Why didn't you catch it ?” Klaus giggled nervously.

“I've been dead fifteen years, asshole, you think I've still got good reflexes ?” He answered while trying to hold the blood into his nose by pressing a finger to the side of his nostril.

“Right, so sorry, dear,” Klaus came to him, still giggling but now patting his back in apology.

“ I don't know how to play anyway.”

 

It was finally Allison and Luther that played with them. Diego felt it would be cheating to play, with his power and all.

“But can't you not use it ?” A kid had asked.

“Huh. I've never learned that, no.”

Five couldn't be bothered, and Vanya didn't know how to play either. It was pretty fun to watch the faces of his siblings as Klaus dominated the game and made Luther look like he wasn't even trying. In the end, they had to stop when Luther got frustrated from losing and accidentally exploded the ball in his hands. The kids seemed delighted. The crowd that had gathered cheered loudly.

 

All in all a good time.

 

Ben wondered when all of this would go south. It always did.

 


	60. Teacher reunion and fun talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 60 ! Ain't that crazy ?  
> Those seven have come a long way since they came back to their childhood bodies, and it's only been about twelve days, if I kept count correctly ? Maybe I'll have to make an ellipse soon enough. I don't know, like I said, I'm flying blind since like chapter 12 or something :o
> 
> For those interested in reading other stories I wrote (original works, so I can't post them on this website, I've posted some on my Tumblr profile. If you're interested : https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lehenne   
> (There's artworks too :))

There was a bit of a crowd around them, but everyone stood at a respectable distance after Five had hissed and threatened to gouge a few eyes. A couple of kids were mock battling in front of them.

“My favorite was the bank robbery !” One of them exclaimed.

“Yeah, you were like 'KAPOW'!” Another added, miming with grand gestures and extravagant kicks in the air. Their postures were atrocious, and they'd never land a hit with such weak kicks. They had finished their streetball game a while ago, and now Klaus sat next to Ben, sweating a bit but a large grin on his face and an occasionnal tongue flicking at Luther.

“Hey, what the fuck's up with the bell ?” Said a kid in the crowd. “It's been like twenty-five minutes, it should have rung already.”

“Oh right, that's weird...”

 

\---

 

Ms Rees had requested an impromptue reunion with the whole school's staff, and Mr Ward was ninety percent positive it was about the Hargreeves siblings. He'd just finished evaluating their tests, and it had been... Interesting to say the least. He wasn't sure how their knowledge was useful, but from what little he'd heard from Miss Cromwell about their father, he wasn't really surprised.

Once every member of the personnel were seated in the staff room, Ms Rees started without preamble.

“Yesterday afternoon, we've welcomed the Umbrella Academy's seven children in our midst, like you've probably come to know.” The room filled with whispers and head nods, but quickly went quiet again. “Their father, Reginald Hargreeves, has been put in jail after he beat one of the children in front of half the city's cops, and it has later come to light that he has been torturing and experimenting on them-” Ms Rees had to interrupt her speech to let the storm of indignation and horror pass and -somewhat- die down.

“Oh my god, now I feel like an asshole for talking about experiments,” Miss Cruz gasped, a hand reaching her mouth ajar.

“Some of you have already witnessed the kids' jumpiness this morning, and what was probably a panic attack from one of them yesterday evenning... Yes ?” Ms Rees has stopped when Mr Ward raised his hand.

“Actually, it looked an awful lot like a PTSD induced flashback.” He'd know, he'd been a combat medic for three tours. But more than tha, the fact the boy's brothers reacted so quickly and efficiently had been extremelly weird to mr Ward. Ms Rees let out a heavy sigh, and rubbed her face in defeat.

“Christ, everytime I hear something new, it sounds worse than the last.”

“PTSD ?” Someone asked in the back of the room. “Isn't that a soldier's thing ?”

“Yeah, no, actually it's not, but they do stand like soldiers. And this morning...” Mr Ward turned to Ms Rees ; He wasn't sure how much she wanted to share about what had happened in her office.

“Right, they did say their father trained them to be soldiers and killers...” Another wave of indignation later, and ms Rees continued where she'd left off. “I wanted everyone in the school to be aware of those kids' background, and be sure to mind their state of mind. How about you ?” She asked mr Roberts, one of the psychologists that had attended this morning's meeting with the kids. “Can you tell us if there are things to avoid or... Do or anything of the like ?”

“Well, we'd need to talk to them to confirm all this, we can't just blindly diagnose something.”

“And they don't seem inclined to talk to us,” added mr Gilbert.

“But we can still give them peace and space in the meantime.”

“Right and some leniency as well.”

There was a pause.

“What about those powers of theirs ?” Ms Briggs asked. Her questions was followed by a renewed uproar.

“Should we forbid them from using them ? It might be dangerous for the other kids...” That proposition was met with mixed feelings.

“I don't think they can turn their powers off, Margaret,” ms Rees said to shut the conversations down.

“Oh, but I think they can,” ms Ferguson said, “I welcomed them in my classroom earlier, and the boy who sees ghosts said he was blocking them.”

When silence came back, ms Rees intervened again.

“Alright, but maybe not all of them have good control. And what about the strong one ? I don't think he can turn his strenght off.”

“Yeah, sure...” someone mumbled on mr Ward's left.

Yeah, alright...” another said on his right.

“And you weren't there, this morning. The tentacle boy, his power... It looked more like multiple personalities than just plain... Powers,” ms Rees concluded with vague gestures.

“Alright, that's weird, but alright-”

“Don't say that,” harshly cut mr Gilbert. “Multiple personality disorder is a mental affliction, you can't just say that it's 'weird'.”

“Huh, alright, sorry,” mr Andrews continued, a bit ticked off, a hand waving in dismissal. “But what about the girl that can control peoples' minds ? Surely we can't let her roam around and 'rumor' every kid to her liking.”

“Mr andrews, I understand your concern,” ms Rees said patiently, but the anger behind her eyes would freeze a volcano over. “But you haven't met or interracted with those kids yet.” She didn't add anything to that, didn't need to. “We'll talk to them about their powers, sure, but in no way will we ask the impossible.” She looked around with that fierce-momma-bear-look, making everyone squirm in their seats. “We will make sure to discuss the others' safety, and that they follow the school's rules. But if the teleporting boy needs to escape from a noisy room, in no way should we prevent him from doing it. Are we clear on that ?”

Weak 'sure's trailed around the room, and a new, uncomfortable pause followed.

“Alright, so, mr Ward, I believe you've finished their evaluations ? What have you learned ?”

“Well, their answers were very interesting. It doesn't seem like they've followed any sort of government sanctionned program, that's for sure. But they're extremely clever. They could easily follow higher education programs. However I think they'd benefit more from being around kids their age.” Ms Rees concidered his answer for a second.

“Okay. They're thirteen, right ? Ms Ferguson ? You've said you'd welcomed them in your classroom earlier ?”

“Yes, class 3b,” she answered.

“They're about the same age as that class, right ?” Ms ferguson nodded. “Do you think they could join this class ?”

“What, the seven of them ?”

“Yes, they've been adamant on not being separated.”

“Huh. Sure, I guess.”

 


	61. With great powers...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't even pay attention, but this fic is officially longer than the actual book I wrote :o Ain't that crazy.
> 
> While writing those last chapters, I kept wondering if maybe not enough was happening. But then I remembered the siblings has shit thrown at them pretty much 24/7 for the last 50 chapters. They deserve some fluff right ? The calm before the storm...

It had seemed strange to the siblings, to have free time, but they'd just thought it was a school thing. It turns out it wasn't normal after all. At first, the kids got a bit frantic, and some of them went to look for somone. But they soon relaxed, and with a shrug, they went along with it.

“Heh, not gonna complain,” was pretty much the universal answer. Ben agreed.

And so, they chilled. Ben's face had stopped hurting a while ago, and he'd feared Jamin would go back to Their pouting. Maybe it was the serene atmosphere, or the kids' joyful energy buzzing around, but They didn't hide as far as earlier.

Soon, a delagation of kids approached the seven.

“Hey ? Since we've got some time, could we, huh...” The one at the front started.

“Would it be huh, insensitive or- or whatever ? To ask you...” continued the tall one on the left.

"Can you show us your powers ?” The small one at the back blurted out.

“Well, we could, but we'd have to kill you afterward,” Klaus answered with his best serious tone.

“Uh- Why ?” And that successfully made Klaus burst in laughter.

“Why...” He breathed out, wiping a tear from his cheek. Some of the kids looked confused, but most of them smiled widely.

“So, can you show us ?” The siblings looked at each other, and agreed with a shrug. Five was the first to demonstrate ; He disappeared without warning, and reappeared before the surprised gasps died down. He had a steaming mug of coffee in hands.

“You know, you should probably cut down on that, it might make you less jumpy,” Diego remarked, while the kids lost their minds over there.

“And maybe I should cut you down, make you less alive.” Some nervous shuckles later, and the kids were once again gushing in excitement.

“That was so cool !”

“Can you do it again ?”

“Can we see other powers ?” Some kids looked at Diego expectantly.

“I'm not throwing knives inside a school, buddy,” he said as he shook his head.

“Oh ! So you're the Kraken !”

Why are you called that anyway ?”

“Yeah, when, huh,” another kid looked around, confusion in his eyes. “When one of you has litteral tentacles as his power ?”

“Oh, this'll be good,” Klaus said. “Tell them, Diego !” And Diego blushed. He'd always been embarassed about it.

“I, huh,” He started. Was he really gonna talk about it ? “I have another power.”

“Really ?” A kid exclaimed. Diego didn't answer right away. “What is it ?” The kid pressed on.

“I can hold- hold- hold my breath forever,” he finally said, his eyes trained on his hands.

“Seriously ? That's so fucking cool !” The kid shouted.

“Wh- Wh- What ? Really ?” With a frown, Diego looked up at the boy.

“Are you kidding ? Of course it's cool !” And a chorus of kids backed up the first one's claim.

“But it's useless,” Diego countered a bit forcefully. That's why he'd always been embarassed. This power was useless to Father. Useless on missions. And when Diego found out he could control the trajectory of things he threw, Father had been quick to dismiss his other ability completely. None of them had ever brought it up again, but the nickname had stuck.

“What d'you mean ? You litterally can't die of asphyxiation, how can that be useless ?”

“Makes me think of all the things I could have-”

“Shut the fuck up, Klaus,” Ben cut his brother off. Some kids frowned in confusion, but they were quick to go back to the matter at hand, while Ben silently tried to lecture a giggling Klaus.

“Hey, speaking of which, what happened to your face ?” The tall one asked as he pointed at Diego's scar on the side of his head. “That wasn't there the last time y'all were on TV.” Instinctively, Diego reached for his scar, and shrugged. It looked fresh on his teenage body ; It couldn't have been more than a years ago since the accident happened. Father had wanted to know if he could control what other people threw. Declared that maybe if he was in danger his power would activate. It didn't.

But they'd had eighteen years to get used to the sight of the huge scar, and none of them really paid attention to it anymore.

“Shit happens when you fight crime,” Diego said nonchalantly. Ben remembered his brother had cried for days back then. And with the loss of his right eye and thus his depth perception, it had thrown his knife-throwing training in the gutter. Father hadn't been pleased.

“So cool !” The kids beamed at each other. If eyes could sparkle, theirs definitely would.

“Could we see the Horror ?” The small kid at the back shouted, successfully redirecting everyone's excitement.

“Shit yeah !”

“Can we ? Can we ?” Five ticked at the sudden burst of noise, but he nursed his mug a bit closer and closed his eyes. At least the kids still kept their distances, as if an imaginary line had been traced on the ground.

Ben raised his hand up, universal sign to silence a crowd. And it worked. All beady eyes on him, he wondered how Diego had kept his cool all this time.

“I don't know if They're up to it,” he answered, and was met with disappointed looks.

 _'We're up to it.'_ Ben closed his eyes, smiled to himself, and sighed.

They were back.

They opened Their eyes and met with awe and shrieking excitement. Benjamin smiled.

 


	62. Not all sunshine and rainbows...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was delayed because I spent some ungodly amount of time on drawing the Horror the day of Their death.  
>  If you want to check it out : https://lehenne.tumblr.com/image/186605687676

They could only see the two kids in their direct line of sight now. They were staring Them in the eyes.

“Are- Are you the horror ?” They tilted Their head to the side and frowned.

“We don't like that name,” They said with that strange double voice of theirs. “We prefer Benjamin.” It seemed like the kids had short-circuited. Hushed whispers drifted across the group.

“What sort of animal are you ?” A small voice squeaked from the back of the crowd. They looked for the source with Their stupid useless eyes. They caught a movement on Their left, a tiny figure squizzing between two kids. It was the girl he'd sat next to during class.

What sort of animal ? They'd never thought of Themselves as animals. Nobody ever had even thought of Them as anything other than a _monster_ , or a _creature_ , a _thing_ , an _eldritch abomination_ sometimes even. Their own Father had never called Them anything else than _Horror_. But an animal ?

“Isn't it obvious, Mads ? He's an octopus, duh,” the tall kid said as she crossed her arms.

“How would you know ? Just because he has tentacles...”

“Well, what other animal had freaking tentacles then ?”

“Jellyfish. Corals. Snails and squids. The star-nosed mole,” the girl listed. “You could be a giant mole, right ? Do you even have a body ?” They smiled. They didn't know what else to do.

“Yes. This one,” They gestured at Themself. “We are one,” They raised a finger in the air.

“Oh, so it's...” Mads frowned and thought about her answer. “You're just a guy with retractable tentacles, is that it ?”

“No.” Diego said. All heads turned to him. “It's not like that.” He looked at Them with sorrow in his eyes. “I've seen Their body. Part- Part of it...” He pinched his lips to stop them from quivering.

“Oh,” Luther said, realisation hitting him. “Right.” Allison covered her mouth, stiffling a gasp.

“Really ?”

“When ?”

“How ?”

“What is it ?” None of them answered.

Right. They were the three that had witnessed Their death. What had they seen back then ? Did Father made them describe what they'd seen ? And now They were a bit curious.

“What do We look like ?” They asked.

“Hum-” Allison started, rubbing her arm. “It's not very clear.”

“Whatever it is it's- it's- it's huge.” Diego looked at his knife in his hands, spinning it between his fingers.

“There were too many eyes... And, huh, teeth ?” Luther scratched the back of his neck and refused to look up from the ground. “And too many fingers,” he added, goosebumps covering his arms. They didn't say more.

“And ?” They pressed them. They wanted to know.

“Listen, maybe... Maybe it's not really a good idea. It- It still haunts my nightmares, you know ?” Diego said, pleading eyes locking on Theirs. Oh. So They were a monster after all. They shouldn't have hoped anything else. Klaus wrapped a hand around Their shoulders and pressed his head on Their arm.

“Can we see it ?” Mads asked after a pause. “Just one tentacle ?” They didn't see why not, but just in case, They turned to Allison. She would know what was okay, right ? She had a kid after all. She shrugged. Alright. They made a tentacle slide on the ground under a shower of surprised and delighted gasps.

“ENOUGH !” Thundered a voice at the back of the group. The seven siblings had jumped up and assumed position. Jamin was gone in a flash, taking Their tunnel vision and tentacle with Them. The newcommer was probably an authority figure, because the kids parted ways with a sort of apprehension Ben had witnessed his whole childhood. “Go back to class, everyone,” he barked at the assembly of children.

“Hum, but sir, Apparently there's a reunion going on-”

“And now it's over. So go to class. Now.” His voice suffered no reply. Soon enough, Only the Hargreeves and the barking man remained in the courtyard. “I knew you were dangerous, but to think you'd threaten the school's safety on your first day...” He let his words trail, his angry eyes travelling from one sibling to the other. He marked a pause when he reached Klaus, and a chill went down Ben's spine when he saw the man's look. He'd seen that look on so many of Klaus' street encounters. That man was dangerous. Ben got closer to his brother, and squeezed his hand. Klaus, trembling, squeezed back.

“Sir, may we know what we've done wrong ?” Luther asked naively.

“We haven't done anything, this man's just looking for a reason to hate us,” Diego answered before the man could. Luther frowned at that revelation, and studied the newcommer with newfound suspicion.

“I will not be talked that way by-”

“That'll be all, John,” mr Wade interrupted as he walked over to the group. “You should leave, now.”

 

 

 

 


	63. An ass, and a bag

“I don't think so,” John answered. “This fr- kid just threatened the other children with his tentacle powers.”

“That's not true, he-” Klaus started.

“We've all seen you kill people with those,” the man was staring at Ben with dead eyes, a rictus curling his lips.

“And how did he threaten them exactly ?” Mr Ward placed himself between John and the siblings, and extended a hand in their general direction. The vice principal had caught the way Five's posture had shifted at the other man's commentary.

“I just told you, he used his tentacle,” John snarled, unaware of how close he was to getting killed.

“But what was threatening about it ? I don't get it ?”

“He- Look, that boy's twirling knives in his hands, for god's sake !” Mr Ward turned to Diego, and cocked his head to the side.

“Alright, that's a safety violation, and we'll have to talk about it, but it has nothing to do with-” He interrupted himself, seemed to think for a second. “-Benjamin's ? Tentacle, right ?” John's eyes narrowed.

“You know perfectly well what I mean.”

“I don't think I do.” Both men stared at each other for a full ten seconds without moving. So that was a stand-off. It didn't happen only in old westerns.

“I guess you're ready for more death on your conscience,” John finally yielded. Then he turned heel and he was gone.

“What a piece of work,” Klaus sighed.

“What a fucking cunt,” Five spat.

“Kids, I'm right there,” mr Ward said, unable to hold back a chuckle. “But yeah, he's an ass.” They all nodded sternly, gaining a strange look from the vice-principal. Then he turned to them with a serious expression.

“How close was he from dying ?” He asked Five.

“... I guess it's good that you intervened,” Five admitted, his attention set on a spot of grass on their left. Mr Ward closed his eyes, took a deep breath.

“I understand that you've have a very... Unusual upbringing, but-” He paused, looked around between the seven of them. “You know you can't kill people, right ? You understand that it's bad, yes ?” The siblings looked at each other incredulously, and then Klaus bursted in laughter, making mr Ward extremely uncomfortable.

“Of course we know !” Klaus giggled. “Daddy dearest's an asshat, but he's no Luis Garavito, you know ?”

“Oh, good,” mr Ward breathed in relief.

“It's just that Fivey sweety has some anger issues, yes you do,” Klaus cooed from behind the relative safety that offered Ben. Five stared ominously from above his coffee mug. His jaw muscles shifted from barely veiled fury, but he offered no comment to Klaus' teasing.

“I wouldn't have actually killed him,” he finally shared, eyes closed and sigh heavy. “Seriously maimed him, maybe,” he continued just as mr Ward started to untense. “But know that if someone touches my family,” he added with ice shard in his voice, “no amount of civility will hold me back.”

Mr Ward swallowed anxiously, a single drop of sweat rolling down the side of his face. Ben thought that happened only in books, but Five's expression was enough to send a chill down his spine.

“Right...” the vice principal rubbed his beard nervously, his eyes darting away from Five. “Okay, not good, but I get it...” He hummed, then pointed at the building behind them. “We'll talk more about it later, but for now, let's- Let's go and find you some school supplies.”

 

They made their way in relative silence.

“So we agree on no knives, right ?”

“Right,” Diego said with a smirk.

“And, huh, no mind-control either.”

“Obviously,” Allison giggled.

“Alright, cool.” Their steps echoed through the empty corridors, and they finally reached a room labelled simply 'supply closet'. It was a lot bigger than a closet, with shelves full of pens and books and, well, school supplies lined along the walls. “I heard you attended ms Ferguson's class. Did you enjoy it ?”

“'Enjoy it' would be an over-statement, really,” Five grumbled as he made his way to a pile of notebooks.

“It was alright, is what he means,” Klaus translated, already riffling through a box full of different pens.

“Great, because it'll be your class from now on.”

“Okay,” they said while gathering everything they remembered having for their lessons. It was fifteen years ago, but surely they'd manage, right ?

“Wow, tone down your enthusiasm, there,” mr Ward said jokingly, gaining a few frowns and a couple of huffs.

“Those notebooks are for school notes only,” Allison told Five with a meaningful look, completely ignoring the man's attempt at humor.

“I cannot fathom why,” Five said irrated. “But whatever.”

Ben went to Klaus' side and helped him choose some pens. There were a handfull of glitter gel ones, and really, it was a sif they'd been put there for his brother.

“Can I take those ?” He asked mr Ward with a hopeful voice and eyes sparkling. The vice-principal had been observing them from the entrance, leaning on the door-frame with his arms crossed. The worried crease of his brow softened when he saw the multicolored pens.

“Yeah, sure. You'll still need a black one for tests though.” Ben really like that guy.

Alright, this is highly inefficient,” Five snapped after a while of rummaging through everything. “Do we have to do this blindly, or is there a damn list ?”

“Oh, shit, yeah, sure,” mr Ward exclamied, pushing himself away from the wall.

 

When they were done and had everything they needed, complete with school manuals and bagpacks, they waited outside the room for Klaus to decide between the clutch-bag and the hot pink messenger one.

“Hey, listen, Five ?” Mr Ward hesitated. “If some day, you actually want to- Kill someone... Come to me first ?”

“How are you so chill about this ?” Diego asked with suspicion.

“I know what it is to be angry and traumatized,” the man shrugged.

Klaus settled on the pink bag.

 


	64. A buch of orphans and a human Ouija board...

“I'm NOT traumatized,” Five angrily stated, arms crossed and head high. And even Luther snorted at that.

“Sure you aren't, sweetie,” Klaus went by him, brushing a finger under his chin and promptly running away.

 

They had their first official class in the afternoon, right after lunch. Having already met the kids that morning helped a great deal ; The teacher was actually the one to freak out the most. But he eventually went back to his teaching. Algebra II. The most boring math lesson the siblings had ever had in a long time. They'd moved on to calculus when they'd been ten. They didn't say anything, save for a contemptuous scoff from Five's end while he reached for his personnal notebook. He'd passed Calculus a very long time ago, and Ben wasn't even sure his mathematics comprehension didn't exist outside of the measuring scales of mere mortals. The teacher had taken a quick look above Five's shoulder while he'd paced across the room. He'd raised an eyebrow, then two, and just as he started leaning forward, Five turned to him and shot him one of his death glares. The teacher didn't say anything.

The rest of the day went by peacefully. That night went almost night-terror free.

 

The next day started with biology. They'd followed a classmate, Five making a note to ask for a map of the building and a schedule for their classes. Five liked order.

The teacher, an old balding man, checked attendance in a muddled, sleepy voice. The siblings never had to do that, obviously ; There was only seven of them, and it wasn't like they were going anywhere between the end of a day and the beginning of the next.

But they'd seen movies, they'd snuck out to go to the theater. It was almost fun to realise it was an actual thing. Then the teacher paused. Frowned. Looked closer.

“Hargreeves...” He started a bit unsure. Yes, Hargreeves. Did they not have a teacher's reunion the previous day ? “Number One ?” He asked. Oh. Okay ?

“Yes,” Luther answered a tiny bit louder than necessary, on the verge of bolting up from his seat, Ben could tell. If they hadn't seen the previous kids stay seated, he would have.

“Is- Is that your real name ? I thought it was some sort of codename for your missions... ?”

“It is our names, Sir,” Luther answered with deference.

“Did you actually put that on your form, dumbass ?” Diego wondered loudly. “We could've had one normal thing-”

“No, I didn't ?” Luther replied. Ben just now realised the progress his brother had made in just ten days. Before their travelling back in time, he would've jumped at Diego in anger at that comment.

“Then how...”

“Well, next is Number Two ?”

“Alright, why did we spend half an hour on your stupid forms, if you were gonna use those names anyway ?” Diego stabbed his desk with, well, nothing but his bare hand and irritation. The teacher raised an eyebrow, but answered softly.

“Well, they use legal documents like birth certificates and the likes for those,” he shook his list in the air and pinched his lips in apology. “But I can addlib your preferred names if you'd like... Yes, let's do that,” he concluded with a smile.

Everyone here was too nice. Ben frowned. All of this made him uncomfortable. When was the bad shit gonna happen ? It always did. But anyway. The lesson itself had him on his toes the entire time, and not because of anything grave.

Human reproduction. There were snickers travelling across the classroom as the teacher showed diagrams of genitals with dead eyes. But Ben's attention was set on Klaus. He shot him his best warning glares, and everytime his smile stretched and his mouth opened, Ben would mouth a 'Don't'. The bell rang without incident. Before he could breath out his relief, though, he remembered something. A chick-flick he'd watched intently at one of Klaus flings' place. It'd been either this or listen to their bedroom gymnastic all night.

'Sex-Ed'. Was it a real class ? God, he hoped not.

 

Morning went by, and trouble arose at lunch. Klaus was sober. The weed had worn off, and there was none left. A sober Klaus, surrounded by screaming kids, most of them orphaned.

“Breathe, my man,” Ben signed to a hyperventilating Klaus.

“Where are we ?” He whispered, eyes darting around the room, unseeing. A flashback. While food was being served, Ben diligently described everything around them. When the blue light of Klaus' power started shimmering, Ben hailed Five's help. He popped on Klaus' other side, startling him and making his hands glow brighter. The noise around them shifted from random excitement to gradual fear, as dismembered figures started appearing around the room.

They ignored it and focused on Klaus. But Five didn't know sign language, and Klaus' hand were firmly locked on his ears. Above the commotion and the ghosts' screams, the only way he would hear anything would've been to scream in his ear. Which would have been a terrible idea.

“Ben, what the fuck am I supposed to do now ?” Five pressed, his voice rising with anxiety. He wasn't far from breaking himself and it was evident the only thing keeping him from jumping away was that Klaus needed his help.

Ben put a hand on Klaus' shoulder, and nudged him as firmly as he dared, forcing him to open his eyes and listen to him.

“Five's gonna give instructions,” He signed at Klaus but looked at Five. And so, Ben started translating ;

“So you can already follow the course of the pulse and nudge it. Now you have to take control. Make it your bitch.” That earned a giggle. “Force it to leave your hands. Difuse it across your whole body.”

“Even down there ?” Klaus chuckled suggestively. Five raised an eyebrow, Ben sighed.

“Yes, even down there, you asshat,” Ben said himself.

The ghosts gradually lost their tangibility, the blue light dancing around Klaus' body for a while. To everyone's relief, it disappeared eventually. All around them, kids were crying.

“Mom- It was mom-”

Right. Orphans.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @plumstagram for their HC ! (see comment from ch 51) 
> 
> If you have any school head-cannons you'd like to see in there (and if I find somewhere to cram it obviously) don't hesitate ! :D


	65. Just a little blunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, this pesky chapter did NOT want to be written. 
> 
> I might take a few days off.

It was quiete something to witness a room full of crying kids.

“Is that my fault ?” Klaus asked between gritted teeth, still shivering from his flashback.

“Yeah, but don't sweat it, dude,” Ben reassured him, a protective hand on his back. “Are they leaving you alone ?” Klaus shook his head.

“Still screaming as all hell, but y'know how it is...” He said as a teacher made his way to the table. He looked confused. Ben wondered what he could possibly be about to say.

“Huh,” he started eloquently. “Didn't mr Ward talk to you about- about those powers of yours ?” That was nowhere near what Ben could have predicted.

“He did, sir,” Luther answered. “Why ?”

“You're not supposed to-” Oh hell no. “Use them-”

“And what made you think this was done on fucking purpose ?” Ben snapped as he waved angrily around the room. The teacher didn't seem to like that.

“Well, it sure looked like it. If you were trying to impress the gallery, you...” Benjamin shot up from Their seat, a low growl sipping out from the back of their throat.

“Is this enough to impress the gallery in your opinion ?” Five asked the trembling teacher.

“Wh- Wh-” The crying around Them had subsided, leaving room to stunned silence.

“Benjy...” Klaus' small voice beside Them. His hand on Theirs. “At ease,” he chuckled weakly. “I'm sorry sir,” he added with fake deference. “But sometimes, they simply do as they please.” Jamin would have subsided already, if not for the trembling hand still gripping Theirs.

“We were told you could control those well-” The seven of them snorted at that, earning a confused look.

“Sir, I don't know who told you that,” Klaus laughed a bit hysterically. “But it couldn't be further from the truth. They do whatever they want, really,” he waved around. And then he flinched back and squeezed Their hand tighter, a whimpering hum dying in his throat. Now the teacher stood awkwardly, not sure what to say to that.

“You- You were blocking them in ms Ferguson's class yesterday... ?” He finally said. Klaus leaned on Their shoulder with a shudder.

“Yeah, 'cos I was high,” he sighed. “And I'm not anymore,” he singed without enthusiasm.

“You- were high ?”

"Yup. The only way to keep them at bay.”

What was he going to say about Klaus being high ? Surely that wasn't allowed ? Ben didn't even notice when Klaus had stopped trembling and They'd gone back. Was it because mr Ward arrived ? Whatever the reason, Ben sat back down with a sigh of relief.

“What's going on ?” Mr Ward asked, a brief look around the room at the sniffing kids, then at the seven of them and finally at the teacher in front of whom he'd stopped.

“That boy, the Séance, he just made ghosts appear everywhere, he scared the kids ! And they parents-” Mr Ward shut him up with a hand in his face.

“Really ?” He asked, turning to Klaus in surprise.

“He didn't do it on purpose,” Ben stated, staring the vice principal in the eyes, challenging him to say anything against his brother.

“I'm sure he didn't,” he said softly. “But I need to know...”

“He can't control it without the drugs,” Luther, of all people, interrupted. "Please don't punish him ?” Would he let them, if they ever choose to ? Ben should stop thinking about that now, probably.

“Drugs ?” They all tensed up, Jamin ready to spring forth. “Hey,” he put his hands up in surrender, “We won't punish anyone, relax. What would we even do, make you write 'I won't do it again' twenty times ?” He suggested with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood maybe ? Well, it didn't work. They all hummed nervously, looked at each other with a frown. A shiver made Klaus jolt up in his seat. Ben witnessed his face scunch up in slow motion, his hand clasp on his ears, his eyes widen in terror.

Before the litany of 'nonono's flowing out of his quivering lips became audible, Benjamin was gripping his shoulders tight enough to keep him grounded in the present.

“I'll never let anyone make you go there again, okay ?” They assured.

“What's up, kiddo ?” Mr Ward had appeared right next to Klaus, crouching beside him, a hand on the back of his chair. They were aware They were growling again. Couldn't help it. Would't help it. “Do you need to get out of here ? Go somewhere quieter maybe ?”

“Unless you're offering a blunt or two, nowhere's ever quiet,” Klaus sighed, his voice a trembling whisper.

 

They finally convinced everyone to leave them alone, let them eat in peace, for god's sake, Five had pleaded tiredly. The room kept unnaturally silent the rest of the meal. Ben caught a few kids staring at them with tearful eyes still. Ben could only imagine what it felt like to see their dead parents again, without warning. Well, actually, they'd experienced it, not ten days ago even. They'd all thought Reginald finally and completely dead. And then he crept up on them once again.

Alright, maybe it wasn't like that for the other kids. They probably had good parents, right ? Whatever that meant.

They'd been excused from the rest of the day's classes. Mr Ward had insisted.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if any of you know the 'Don't hug me I'm scared' videos, you might have noticed the subtle reference ♪ :)


	66. Outside perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo people ! I'm back ! I haven't written anything in a few days, and I'm ready to go again. 
> 
> I'm approaching the end I've envisionned for this fic (then again, I've been saying that from chap 10 so...) Maybe I'll stop this fic where I wanted to and do a part two if I need to add something. I'll see. 
> 
> Anyway. Enjoy :) 
> 
> And thanks to @Happyraincloud (ch50) and @mothmaniscanon (ch51) for their ideas !

There were a weird few days during which nothing particular happened. Like a haze of peace, normalcy, whatever it could be called. Nothing happened. Nothing bad.

 

 

The Umbrella Academy. Here. In her school. In her class. And they were nowhere near normal. It wasn't even about their powers ; When the bell rang, they invariably got up, stood straight and still the way VP Wardy stood sometimes when he didn't pay attention. Sometimes they'd be doing normal things until something would make them do weird stuff, like brandish a butter knife to someone's throat or dive on the ground and shout for cover when the hospital's helicopter flew over the school.

One day, they were correcting a multiple choice quiz, and Nathan got a bit carried away when he answered.

“Number four !” He'd yelled. And Klaus had _jumped._

“I'm not scared, sir !” He'd yelped, before looking around like he wans't sure where he was. Ben had had to tug on his shirt to make him sit back down.

Another time during math, the teacher was explaining something about probabilities.

“It's .04, not .4,” Five said from the back of the class, in the most jaded tone she'd ever heard in her life. He added nothing, didn't even look up from his notebook, didn't even stop writing. It took the teacher a full thrty seconds to find the mistake.

“Oh. Thanks.” Five did not answer.

And then the next day, the teacher talked about the millenium prize problems, about the reward and the impossible maths. Five looked up then.

“What are they ?”

“Oh, I couldn't write one down like that, but if you're interested, there are some books in the library-”

“Which ones ?” The teacher gave him references, and then he immediately teleported away ! He came back a minute later with a single book.

“This is basic stuff,” he scoffed.

“What ?”

“This is basic stuff,” he repeated. “You just need to...” he went on explaining, well, something.

“What ?” The teacher repeated. So Five, with yet another scoff, went to the black board and started scribbling like a mad man, teleporting left and right, explaining everything condescendingly. Soon, the black board had turned white, covered in proper, undecipherable, movie grade _math™️._ According to the teacher, this was world changing knowledge. According to Five, this was basic arithmetic.

And then there was P.E. They were having smimming lessons for the past month. The teacher asked them for their level, but they didn't know.

“Fair enough. Let's put you to the test then.” With that said, the seven of them straightened up even more than they usually did. “You'll do a lap to the line and then back.” First went Luther, Allison, Ben and Diego. The four of them climbed up the diving board. Diego looked a bit stiff and shaky up there, and Ben leaned over him.

“Maybe you don't have to do this if you ask.”

“Sh- shut up,” Diego snapped back. The first three dived with what the teacher described as a prefect form, and Diego stayed frozen on the spot.

“What is it boy ?” The teacher asked him. No answer.

“He's scared of water,” Klaus said factually.

“I'm- !” Diego shouted, “I'm- I'm not- I'm not-” His face was resolved, but his shaking legs told otherwise. “I'm not scared !”

“Oh yeah, no sorry, you're not scared, you're traumatized.”

“Sh- Sh- Shut the fuck up, Klaus, I- I- I swear-”

“Hey, it's okay, boy, you don't have to do it, you can skip it if-”

“No ! I'm doing it,” he gritted through his teeth, turning around to face the water again. He got ready to jump. And didn't. “Shit. Fu- Fu- Fuck.” He stayed on the diving board though, until Vanya went to ease him off of it.

And apart from all of that, they stayed in their corner, talked like they were adults and knew nothing about the latest trends. So, all in all, weird people.

 

 

During the few hours right after dinner, they got some time to themselves, during which they trained Vanya and Klaus. He'd been reluctant at first ; He didn't want to train, he wanted his powers gone. But a few hours of convincing that with training, he might be able to supress the ghosts all together, and he finally caved.

“Alright, but I'm not conjuring anyone, and I won't go into any haunted place.”

“Why would we even do that, you dummy.”

Five followed the news about Father via what the other kids told thoughout the school. He jump scared half the school listening in every conversation he could at once. It was on TV, he'd found out the first day. The only thing that had transpired is that what Reginald was in detention for, and that the 'Academy Kids' had been placed somewhere.

“This is very bad. We're gonna be found out soon enough.”

“Don't be such a party pooper, Fivey,” Klaus answered, blowing a smoke ring through the window. The school had begrudgingly allowed him a single, pre-bed joint a day after he'd woken every kids in a ten meter radius four nights in a row with his screaming and thrashing. As to where the pot came from, well. Ben would have to ask Five about it, but from the look he'd sported when he came back with it, he wasn't sure he wanted to ask.

“I'm not a 'party pooper', Klaus, this is just rationnal thinking. Someone's gonna find us soon. The commission is bound to find us with all this mediatic exposure. We have to stay alert.”

“You're saying that because you're addicted to action, and nothing happened in a few days. Y'know, in reality, nothing happens more often than you'd think.”

“I'm not an addict,” Five seethed.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Klaus scoffed.

 

But something did happen. And it wasn't the commission.

 


	67. And suddenly !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, the cliffhanger was a bad move. I had too much fun writing this chapter to cut anything short. 
> 
> Oh, and trigger warning for body dysphoria, I think ? Not too sure about that, but I'll put it there just in case.

First, there was the leak. The mole, the rat, the snitch. Someone talked to the press. It was now known ; 'The Umbrella Academy is in Salt Lake boarding school !'. Breaking news. Reporters, curious eyes, tourists ; Suddenly the school's surroundings were crowded and _loud_. So fucking loud, in fact, the school had to call the police.

Five was everywhere. And nowhere. He surveyed the whole school at all times, and might have pulled some tufts of hair from the way he gripped at it. He didn't attend class anymore, 'no time for this nonsense', and it attracted the teachers' concern. Well. More than before anyway. He didn't sleep at night and didn't eat much of anything anymore. He would not be swayed.

But there was no sign of the commission.

“I don't get it, why is noone coming...” He would repeat to himself over and over, buried in piles of notebooks full of equations. “The apocalypse must still be on...”

They stopped trying to stop him. He'd only bark over his coffee that there was no choice.

No choice.

The commotion died down eventually. Five didn't stop, but they'd convinced him to sleep once in a while, if and only if someone kept watch for the night.

It happened a week later. Five ran on fumes at that point, and would stab anyone looking his way in a five mile radius. They were in the leisure room during a day off. It was such a wild concept they'd barely believed it at first. Large, comfortable sofas, magazines, a radio in the corner and big tables covered in board games and art supplies.

Luther sat at one of them, meticulously assembling a plane model he'd made out of cardboard.

Diego was trying and failing to knit a black beanie under Klaus' vague instructions.

Allison read a magazine and Vanya played something on her violin.

Klaus painted Ben's nails bright indigo, while he tried to play a 'D'n'D' game with three other children. But they were too tranfixed by Five's hectic pacing and jumping around to pay attention to the game at all.

Ben understood Five's jumpiness ; He also dreaded the moment everything would turn to shit.

_Any moment now._

“Hey, Luther said Jamin had 'too many fingers',” Klaus said while finishing Ben's pinky finger.

“You're not painting Their nails,” he answered, throwing a handful of dice on the board. He had to determine the damage he'd cause to a hoard of goblins. 11.

“I'm pretty sure They'd love it.”

 _'We would,'_ They purred.

“No, They wouldn't,” Ben said through gritted teeth. His brother leaned on his shoulder, and when he turned to him, he was greeted by batting eyelashes and puppy eyes.

“They totally do, and we all know it,” Klaus whispered. Against Ben's worst efforts, They reared to the surface and grinned widely at Klaus, who beamed wider. “C'mon, show me those lil' puppies.” With eyes rolling and sigh heavy, Ben caved.

“I don't even know if we can take them out.”

 _'We can. Father is disgusted by Our hands. He forbade Us to show them. But he isn't here,'_ They said almost mischievously. During the last week, They'd 'come out of Their shell', as the saying went. It made Ben smile a lot.

“Alright, here goes nothing.” It was getting easier to 'merge' together, easier to control and understand and feel Their other body. Something crawled out of their stomach. The weirdest feeling. Dozens of ticking fingers trickled out of their stomach. One hand, fifteen fingers. A wave of cold, instinctive terror made them shiver and jolt, every gasp around them only confirming the feeling. They were disgusting. Klaus grabbed their hand. Another shiver jolted up their spine and bloomed on the back of their head. His warm skin against theirs felt so freaking good, like a head massage. They'd never felt that. They liked it very much. They swallowed back a purr, that would have been weird.

“Well, you, my friends, need a manicure,” Klaus said, absorbed in the contemplation of their hands, playing with each finger like a piano.

“You done ?” They managed to say with feigned nonchalance. Now they were the one incapable of focusing on the game. The 'DM' explained the next action. But they couldn't focus on aynthing else than Klaus' feather touch and the weird sensation of nail polish, cold like liquid mint applied oh so carefully. It made their gaze irremediably slide away from the board and onto _their hand_. So weird. This hand was a part of them, and they'd never really seen it, weren't even aware they had more than two hands ! It made them wonder what else they had hidden away.

“How many hands do we even have ?” They heard themselves whisper. “Fifteen”, the answer came to them. Jamin's knowledge, for sure.

“Fif- Fif- Fifteen hands ?” Diego exclaimed, right as something exploded in the distance. Five was gone before anyone had even registered the sound. But as soon as they did, they were all in battle position.

 


	68. BAMF

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a little bit longer, because I didn't want to cut it in the middle. 
> 
> Mention of suicide.

What is happening. What is going on. Who are they. Who are They. How... How did it end up like that. They can't... Think. They can't- Can't even remember their own name. Who are They. They're...Kneeling. Cold, hard floor. A breeze in their hair. Hands tied in their back. Something wet dribbles down the side of their mouth. Noise above them. Can't look up. Can't focus. _Can't focus._ Words barked. Voice unknown. Can't process.

“Where's the last one ? Where's the ghost boy ?” They shift. Something should. They should react. Do something. Can't focus. “Why doesn't team three answer ? You ! Go find out !”

Their head drop to the floor.

“They're down, put them in the van.”

“You sure, boss ? I ain't sure I wanna get strangled by no monster-”

“For fuck's sake, the kid's face-planted in his own drool, you really think he can do anything to ya ?” Getting real hard to stay awake. Taking a nap now...

 

 

The shame bursting in his chest had died down progressively. And now that he was the last one standing, the last one free, he couldn't afford to dwell on his own weakness. He'd get everyone free. The adrenaline from his PTSD attack was gonna be put to use, for once. Make it your bitch, as Five liked to say. Right now, he was hiding in a small, dark classroom, taking deep breaths and piecing everything together. Clear head, clear objectives.

When the first explosion had them all up on their feet, they immediately planned their next move. Sixteen years of drilled military training and a ten month refreshment not three weeks ago. He could do it. Luther had asked Vanya to stay behind, to 'protect the kids', he said. She had no military training. Of course she couldn't just barge in on a battlefield with only three weeks of training her powers. She agreed. She was scared shitless anyway. Wouldn't have gone far. There were five of them left. Diego and Allison went to the principal's office to retrieve Number Two's knives. Three left.

They were making their way through the east corridor, silently, precisely, efficiently. And then two armed men appeared in the distance. They retreated in a room, waited for them to approach. Luther barged out and punched the first one. Out cold with a thump as he fell. The second was swept off his feet by one of Benjy's tentacles. They didn't see the third one until it was too late. The flash of a syringe plunging in Luther's neck, and he, too, fell on the ground like a sack of potatoes.

“What the fuck,” Klaus managed to say before Benjamin took care of the third guy. “Luther,” he called while frantically shaking him left and right. He was still awake. But he was... Out. Klaus took the needle out of his neck, sniffed the content. Nothing he'd ever smelled.

A bang, and Benjamin fell too. The red end of a feathery lure, no, a tranquilizer, poked from his shoulder. It was the last thing Klaus had registered of the scene. Because next thing he knew, he was back in the jungle. He ducked down when a bomb exploded up north, and then he ran like hell in the opposite direction. He wasn't a coward. He wasn't a coward. He wasn't, trully, he wasn't. Just needed to stay alive. He needed to stay alive to see Dave once again.

 

When he came back to the present, he was safely tucked in the corner of a classroom. He didn't have class here yet. He took a long breath in, shook his limbs loose, flattened his skirt nervously. He went to take a peek outside the room. Nobody.

He made his way to the library, where the big windows overlooked the whole interior court and from the first floor, gave an excellent vantage point. There, he hid between two shelves near the windows and peered above the lowest row of books, down the courtyard. Oh, there was the whole school. Sitting in the grass, held at gunpoint by twelve men dressed in bulletproof gear. A little off to the side, his six siblings had two guards on them. Diego and Allison seemed to be the only ones not drugged out, but they were gagged and their hands were zip tied behind their backs.

Okay. No time to panic again, Klaus. Thank the Godess, it was the week-end. There were only the twenty five permanent residents and six staff members.

Wait. Vanya was drugged ? Klaus understood why they would drug her, she was the most dangerous of them all after all. But how did _they_ know that ? Apart from the seven of them, the only other person that knew about her powers were- Dad. He couldn't be behind this... Right ?

His thoughts were interrupted by movement in his periphery. Usually he wouldn't react, because ghosts. But today was a special day ! Yay !

He hid farther into the rows of books, and observed the two armed men enter the computer room, a small subspace of the library full of, as the name suggested, computers ! They both got in. Amateurs. Klaus crouched right at the entrance, and waited for the first one to cross the threshold. He tripped him.

“What-” He said as he fell heavily. He swiftly karate chopped him at the base of the neck. One down, one to go. He took the guy's gun, checked the ammunition. Tranq darts. Yes ! He put one in the guy, and a second in the other. He found ziplock ties strapped to their side, so he made good use of them. When he was done tying them up, they wouldn't be going anywhere. He took the radios off of them, chucked one in the distance, just in case they'd wake up early, shoved the other in his pocket, and put the receiver in his ear. He went back to the window to check their numbers.

Still twelve.

Alright, time to go save everyone.

“Team two, where the fuck are you ? Answer me !”

He took team three out further down the corridor.

Ten left.

“Team three ! For fuck's sake, answer, what's going on ?”

He made his way toward the hostages, crouched down and running along the wall, occasionnally checking and then hiding in a classroom to take a short break. Take a breath, push the panic attack way down, and rein in the surging adrenaline.

“You look ridiculous.” Timmy. Klaus found that people who'd committed suicide made the chillest ghosts. What did that say about anything. Not really the time to dwell on it. “There's noone around anyway.” Klaus didn't answer right away. He was in the zone, shaking from the adrenaline, not really in the mood to chat. But he liked little Timmy.

“Wanna help ?” He asked, checking the number of darts left in his gun. Timmy shrugged. “Go take a peek, tell me where the next guys are ?”

“Whatever,” he shrugged again, before leaving through the wall.

A beat. Two. He had to remind himself to breathe. He wasn't in the jungle.

“There's two coming up the stairs.” Klaus nodded. He'd just heard it on the radio. Their code was amateurish at best. Were they really under Dad's employ ? Did he really think so little of them ? Well, okay, they'd taken six out of seven of them down. But damn.

“Thanks, Timmy.” He went out, took them down right as they exited the staircase.

Eight left.

The radio crackled.

“Alright ghost boy, yah think you're a hotshot. How about we kill someone if you don't show up ?” They wouldn't do it. They had no proof he was listening in.

Almost down the stairs, little Timmy appeared again.

“There's two others coming,” he pointed outside the staircase. Klaus hid in the shadows. Not in the jungle. Took the guys out.

Six left.

He went to the principal's office, where he'd have agood vantage point on the scene, right outside the office.

There was still one guard keeping Diego and Allison in check, another putting Luther in the back of a van. A third kept the rest of the school at gunpoint. In the middle of it all, the leader probably, with a deathgrip on his walkie-talkie.

“Listen, you little fucker, either you come out of your hideout or...” Klaus tuned him out. Timmy had popped his head throught the door.

“Another two,” he nodded.

Four left.

Alright. Time to face them.

He emptied the gun on the ground, hid a dart in each sleeve, emptied the content of a third on the floor.

“Thanks, Timmy.” Timmy shrugged.

“It was fun.” Klaus grinned at him. Left the radio there, and headed out. He turned the angle with his hands raised in the air, received a death glare from the leader.

“Oh, hi,” Klaus said, before stabbing himself in the arm with the empty dart, and proceeding to fall theatrically to the ground.

“What the fuck,” The leader said, rightfully taken aback. “You, go check on him.” Amateurs.

Whoever's hand touched his shoulder and turned him over. He stabbed the guy in the hand, snatched his gun from him, and used his body as a shield. First, he shot the guy guarding the kids. The leader hadn't even reacted yet. He shot him in the neck. And last but not least, the guy with a gun to Diego's head.

“Drop it !” He shouted. Well, what could he do anyway ? Drug his brother to sleep ? But why not. He dropped both his human shield and the gun. The guy lowered his weapon for a second. Fucking amateurs. Klaus threw the second hidden dart straight at his head. Bullseye.

There. Done. Breathe in. Breath out. Take a knife from Diego's belt while he squirmed against his gag. Cut the ziptie handcuffing him. Do the same for Allison. They'll manage the rest.

“Klaus-” Diego said as soon as he took his gag out. But Klaus dismissed him with a vague gesture of the hand. He just wanted to go check on Benjamin now. He didn't want to talk just yet anyway.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There wasn't enough of Klaus' badassery in this story, and now it's rectified. Because Klaus is fucking badass.


	69. Moisturize, y'all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took so long. I wasn't sure I'd ever finish it. Doesn't really furthers the plot, but I'm struggling™ to find how to get this party going

Where was he ? A bed. Not his. Something heavy and painful on his stomach. Light snoring on his left. Luther's.

“You're awake, yay !” Klaus cheerful voice on his right.

“Whazzefuc'appen'd ?” Pasty mouth, sleeping tongue. The dead weight on his abdomen felt wrong. And moist.

“Plaît-il ?” He tried to reach his belly with a numb hand, but was stopped by something soft. Klaus' hand on his, shaking a little. “You've been shot by a tranquilizer gun.”

“Wha' ?”

“D'you remember the explosion ? I was doing Jamin's nails.” If he racked his brain hard enough, he could vaguely remember something like that, yes. “Well, there were a bunch of dudes who tried to kidnap us. But I took care of them, and now they're with the police.” Ah. Klaus had a way of summarizing things. He'd have to ask more information later. But for now, his thoughts felt like jello. A low mumbling stretched in the back of his thoughts. It took him ages to realise it was Jamin trying to think. But it was like swimming in pudding. “You've been sleeping for a few hours. The others are still out. Diego and Allison weren't drugged, so they're with the police now. There was Lupo.” Klaus kept talking, but not much was registering. He tried to sit up. His head spun like crazy. The heaviness on his stomach shifted, and it hurt so much. His head spun like crazy. Klaus held him up with a hand in his back.

“Wow, maybe you shouldn't get up, the ambulance guy said you'd be out for the day.” Ben's head started to clear. A smidge. He rolled his tongue around in his mouth to try and wake it from it's slumber.

“I think- I think Jamin took most of the hit.” It would explain why they couldn't seem to form any coherent thought. The pain wasn't coming from his stomach. It was coming from whatever that dead weight was. He looked down to a bundle of wet towels wrapped on top of his stomach. It almost looked like he was pregnant. Ew.

“Huh, Klaus ?” He asked tentatively as he reached for the coarse fabric of wet towels.

“Yeah, huh, you know, when you got anesthetised ? You had your tentacles out ?” Oh. Under the towel, sure enough, his- Their tentacles. Covered in scabs. The air hurt as soon as he'd lifted the towel off. He put it back. “They were all dried up, so I had to keep them moist somehow, you know, like a beached whale,” he said with a chuckle. “Because they kept cracking and bleeding, and it looked like it hurt.”

“That it does...” He tried to make them move. He really tried. And now he understood how it felt for Jamin when he took the driver's seat. Come on, move ! He felt them hurt him, why couldn't he make them move as well. The hand on his back shook ever so slightly. It would have gone unnoticed by anyone else but him. “What about you ? Are you okay ?”

“Of course, dear !” That earned a tap on the back of his hand.

“Klaus,” Ben scolded.

“I'm alright,” he sighed, “I just- I plowed through the bad guys with the power of my PTSD, and it's a bit exhausting you know.”

“Right,” Ben tried to straighten a bit more, but the pain made him wince. There ! One of them twitch ! Given it moved on its own because of the pain, but it was still something, right ? But it wasn't really a good solution, because it was unbearable. He had to stifle a breath and sink back into the bed. “Maybe I'm gonna stay there until- until They wake up and sort this out,” he managed to pant. Eventually, he fell back asleep.

 

 

Mr Ward couldn't settle on the worst part of this whole situation. That he got caught like an amateur, restrained, reduced to powerlessness so easily ? That he was trying his best to comfort his kids -They were his kids, he had practically raised the twenty five permanent residents- But he couldn't, because each time he tried to reassure the crying ones, the guards would threaten them and it only made everything worse. Or the fact that he'd let the Umbrella Academy kids to fend for themselves, because he'd been so easily fucking caught. He was reduced to witness as Five took three of them down before a sudden BANG filled the air, and Five slapped his hand on his neck.

“What the f-” He exclaimed as he fell like a brick. Vanya was brought by another soldier, hanging from the guy's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He unceremoniously dumped her next to Five. Diego and Allison arrived, bound and gagged, struggling and scowling at the guy jabbing a rifle in their side to make them move. They stopped fighting when they saw their two siblings on the floor. God, he hoped they knew they weren't dead. He wanted to shout, make sure they knew. But he'd be shot too, and then his kids would cry and they would be hurt as well.

Allison and Diego were pushed to their knees by the nozzle of the guy's rifle, their eyes still trained on their siblings. They seemed more angry than sad. Maybe they noticed they were still breathing ?

Luther was brought in in much the same manner as Vanya.

And then it was Ben's turn. He wasn't sleeping, not completely at least. He walked like a zombie, there was no other way to describe it, and _his tentacles dragged on the floor with each of his laborious steps_. A guy, who looked as terrified as his kids, pushed along at arms' length. He had no right of being scared. Mr Ward'll kill them all, he settled.

Ben tripped on one of his tentacles, landed on his knees with a terrible _thump,_ and proceeded to drool all over himself, not registering any of Diego and Allison's frantic muffled screaming.

“Shut up !” The leader shouted at them. “Why isn't he sleepin' ?” He screamed at his soldier.

“I don't know, boss ! We shot him twice !”

“Must be that fuckin' monster of his,” he said, kicking one of the boy's tentacles with his foot.

Then the soldiers disappeared two by two, until there were only four remaining and Klaus finally showed up. Mr Ward was partly glad because the leader started to get really nervous, and there was that real threat of his to kill someone. Klaus took them all down in less than ten seconds, his blank expression unwavering. He untied his siblings, and then went straight into the van.

Diego and Allison untied everyone, and then the police arrived, but Mr Ward left the other adults to take care of it. He just wanted to make sure his kids were alright.

 


	70. Celebrity sucks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those last few days were eventful, to say the least. Not a second to type the chapter :o  
> But hey, it's showbiz, baby.

He never wanted kids. Never was the sentimental type. He knew perfectly well he didn't have an ounce of parental instinct in him. And he believed the seven siblings when they'd told him they were adults. He did. But when Reginald Hargreeves had laid a hand on Allison, something deep in his gut stirred. Something about his lizard brain waking up probably. _Protect the kids_. So when he heard what happened over the radio, his fucking heart skipped a beat.

He got there when everything was over. The hostages had been released by Diego and Allison, and when he came in, they were busy tying up the terrorists with efficient, professional moves. The five remaining Hargreeves were nowhere in sight at first. Diego looked pointedly at him, nodded, and headed for the van, inconspicuously parked in the middle of the court.

After he quickly gave instructions to his team, he went for the van as well. There, definitely not fucking dead he told himself, the remaining Hargreeves. Unconscious. Right ? And Klaus sported the most stern soldier-look Lupo had ever seen while getting his siblings in recovery position, making sure they all breathed correctly. But the thing that caught his eye the most was the limp mass of _tentacles_ coming out of little Ben's chest. The involontary step he took back made him bump into Allison, who looked at him with an undecipherable expression.

“What happened ?” Was all he could think of saying.

“An army of mercenaries tried to kidnap us,” she answered blandly. “They had tranq guns that Klaus used to take them down. And then you arrived.”

“An- An army ? How d'you know they're mercenaries ?”

“What else could they be ? They knew to tranquilize Vanya, they must know about her powers, and the only person who knows and has a motive is Reginald. We counted forteen in total.” Diego answered.

“Where are they all ?”

“Dunno. You'll have to ask Klaus. Klaus ?” Diego reached for his brother's shoulder, and was immediately thrown to the floor, kept in a chockhold and arm twisted at a painful looking angle. Lupo had barely seen klaus move at all. He must admit, it was really strange seeing this from an eye-linered, high-heeled, skirt wearing young boy.

"Diego ?” He asked after a second. Diego didn't answer, probably because he couldn't breathe, so he frantically tapped on klaus' arm until he was let go. “Oh. Sorry.” he said as he released his brother. Diego gasped, a hand to his throat.

“N-nah, I'm- I shouldn't have done that. Sorry. Lupo wants to know where you left the other guys.” The green, vacant gaze of klaus settled on him.

“No. I have to help Benjy first.”

“What ? What's up with them ?” Allison asked, because her two brothers stood between her and the mess of _tentacles_ on the floor.

“Their bentacles are drying up. They're bleeding. I have to- I need...” He left it at that, and exited the van without ceremony.

“W-wait where are you-" but he was gone. “Huh. What ?”

“Oh, he came back from Vietnam's frontlines, like, three weeks ago. He's still a bit on edge,” Diego told him while trying to make up his mind about if he would touch his brother's tentacles or not. He did not.

Maybe it was the pause he marked. Maybe it was the look on his face.

“Yeah, time travel, don't- Don't ask, you'll get a headache.” Huh.

 

 

Everything was over by the next day, obviously. A couple of cop cars stayed to keep watch , 'in case anything else happened'. Well, that was reassuring. Lupo crept around most days, but he thankfully stayed away. Maybe it had to do with Five's daily visit to shake him down for info. Either way, it let Ben focus on resting and keeping an eye on Klaus.

 It was monday morning, but there weren't many children back. A lot of parents were -understandably- not too hot about sending their kids in so soon after that incident.

A psychology unit had opened for everyone involved. When it was offered to the Umbrella Academy siblings as well, they scoffed and sneered.

“Dude, relax, it was just a hostage situation, no need to get your pants in a twist,” Klaus dismissed with arms crossed. “Besides, I'm not stepping foot in there, nuh-huh, no way, José.”

“Y'know, maybe it could help you, this time around...” Ben said, his Hope-'O'-Meter at zero.

“Pfft, what for ? I'm sober. I don't need it.” Ben sighed. A long, dramatic sigh he'd have dragged on if his lungs and the the lingering pain in his stomach allowed him.

There was this look the adults had when they'd hear snippets of conversation about their past -futur ?- adult lives. A suspicious look. Sometimes curious, or worried. Mostly, mr Ward refrained from commenting on it though, which was nice of him.

“You know,” he said however, standing very straight -not as straight as Luther- “If I ever cross paths with your father, I might have to kill him myself.”

“Aww, so sweet,” Klaus cooed with a hand on his heart.

“Get in line,” Five sneered.

 

The atmosphere settled slowly over the next few days. TV crews were back in front of the school to get the scoop. They did somehow. Damn snitch. They'd have to find it. The school filled up again with kids eager to interrogate their twenty five comrades that had witnessed everything. Whose celebrity within the confines of the school was only topped by Klaus'. The fact that he'd freak out whenever the crowd around him reminded him too much of, well, everything, kept his admirers mostly in check.

Keyword, unfortunately, being 'mostly'. And celebrity rarely only meant well-meaning fans. Ask any of them, for instance, and the hundred of weird threats they'd received in their fanmail during their childhood.

 

They were in English class. Ben and Klaus always sat next to each other. It was easier to calm him down when it was needed. Ben tried to follow the lesson, but since the day of their attempted kidnapping, he felt woozy and tired. Or, to be exact, Jamin felt woozy and tired. At least, Their tentacles had already healed, even though it still hurt a bit.

Then he heard Klaus whimper next to him. He was holding his head in his hands, his thumbs in his ears.

“What's up ?” Ben whispered.

“Freaking perv' wanking over the teacher in the corner,” he signed, a nervous chuckle dying in his throat. “I need some air.”

 


	71. What's about to come

“Go ask the teacher,” Ben suggested when Klaus didn't move.

“Can't get out. The fucker's blocking the exit.” His signing was becoming hard to read, with all the shaking.

“There's another door at the back of the room,” Ben signed before pointing at it.

“Oh.” Klaus barely glanced at it before jumping from his seat. “Miss, can I go to the toilet, please ?” The desperation in his voice made Ben wince. The teacher didn't seem to notice.

“Yeah. Sure,” she said sweetly. Most of the teachers were acting weird and soft these last few days. Klaus headed for the back door, pulled at it, then pushed. It didn't budge.

“Fuck,” he snapped, voice wavering.

“Klaus, the front door's open ?” The teacher said incredulously.

“Hmm- Could you- Could you open this one ?” He fixed the floor at his feet, hands about ready to plug his ears.

“Why ?” Now she started to worry a little.

“Nnh- No reason...” When the teacher didn't budge, Klaus hummed frustratedly, looked up at the teacher. “There're unseen circumstances I cannot disclose.” His smile was offset by the crease of his brows. “Please ?”

“Alright, I guess...” She finally conceded. She fetched her keys from her desk, and with a look of concern, unlocked the back door. Klaus immediately disappeared though it.

“What's up ?” Mike turned around instantly, a glimmer in his eyes as he stared at Ben.

“Nothing to worry about,” he answered, because how was he supposed to tell this child a ghost was blocking the classroom's exit while masturbating to the teacher ? Answer was, he didn't. His siblings tried to get an answer out of him, but no amount of eyebrow wiggling could possibly explain _that_ situation.

The lesson continued under frantic murmurs of excited theorists. Ben could easily hear the dozens of iterations of the word _ghost_ , and he hoped they weren't making it stronger by talking about it.

 

“Did he get lost or something ?”Anna asked after a while. That was the first warning.

Oh.

The teacher stopped writing on the board, turned around.

“Does he usually take long ?” She asked him, her piece of chalk suspended in mid-air.

“Huh,” Was the first thing that came to mind. “He didn't actually need the toilets, he needed some air.”

“What ?” But all possibility of an explanation was squished away by a low, disgusting groan.

“No...” Ben stood up, his gaze set on the door. There was nothing. Did he imagine it ? Please, someone tell him he imagined it.

“What was that ?” The teacher scowled, face red and eyes searching. Another groan, louder, followed by unmistakable wet noises. Luckily those kids were at least of age to be aware, to not end up irrepparably traumatized by what was about to come. He would've smiled at the pun in other circumstances.

First blue light, unfocused. Just kind of there, painting the atmosphere out of it's usual beige vibe that drove Klaus crazy with boredome.

Then it condensed into a human shape. It solidified under everyone's gasps of surprise, excitement, horror. The ghost didn't notice right away, kept at his business with undeterred vigor. Surprise turned into uncertain and nervous laughter. Excitment turned into disgust. Horror, well, kept going strong. Another ghost was there, at the window. But he wasn't doing anything, so that was good.

In the distance, screaming and crying suddenly exploded all around them.

The teacher seemed lost.

Ben didn't care.

“Klaus,” he said, before dashing toward the door, and immediately being stopped by impossibly strong hands on his shoulders. Luther.

"Wait, we don't even know where he is.”

“Let us go.” Luther took a step back. It had more to do do with the threatening growl that accompanied his word than the order in itself. They didn't move, because They knew he was actually making a good point. “We _need_ to find him,” They pleaded.

“Of course. Let's split up.” Luther started giving each sibling a zone to search.

“We want to help !” The kids exclaimed, pointedly not looking at the old pervert, who by now finally realised something was happening to him. He'd stopped going at his business, even stoppped creepily staring at the teacher. Teacher who, by the way, looked ready to throw up or faint, whichever came first. Luther gave every kid an area to search.

“Benjamin, you stay here, so-” The noise that came out of their face made everyone turn around in panic. They couldn't think of anything smarter to say to that idiotic statement. “Hear me out, we need to know where you are at all times, so you can get to him faster when we come looking for you.” The argument was sound. Logical. The best course of action. But there's nothing logical about the part of Their brain wanting to get to Klaus. They needed to go.

“Don't call his name,” They finally gave in. “He won't know you're not a ghost. When you find him, don't touch him, come find me immediately ; He might hurt you without knowing.” Everyone agreed.

 

“Hey, buddy, stop grinding your teeth, you'll hurt yourself,” Diego soothed, a hand thrown around Their shoulders. When did everyone leave ? “When you were too busy growling threateningly to notice,” Diego answered. Only the teacher was still there with them, standing at a good distance. Even the ghosts were gone. She looked shaken. Fair enough.

“We need to go find him,” They repeated for, They remembered now, the twelfth time.

“They'll find him,” Diego answered relentlessly. “There're twenty six people looking for him.”

 

Someone bursted through the door as They repeated Their plead for the sixteenth time.

“We found him !”

 


	72. Maybe there'll be peace one day. Not today though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was bound to happen. I mean, humanity isn't all roses and sweet kids. Also, I need me some drama, amirite ?

There was something to be said about him. He hated the Umbrella Academy. Fucking hated them. They were rich, famous, they had a family, even freaking super powers ! And they threw everything away even though anyone would kill to be in their place. He hated them to his core because he never had anything like that. The only good thing in his life were maybe his friends. And possibly VP Wardy, if he must be completely honest. But he never had anything of his. No pocket money, no fancy parties, not even Wardy's undivided attention ; There were twenty five of them. Sure, they had toys, but like, none of them were _his_. They were all sharing all of them, and he didn't have, like, a firetruck of his own, or whatever. He bet the Umbrella Academy had tons of toys, with their dad being a billionaire and all. He bet they had all the new toys that came out, and they weren't even grateful. He bet they played five minutes with each toy and then tossed them aside like the ungrateful bastards they were.

And then his friends decided that Klaus' fancy moves and taking the bad guys down was so much more incredible than him being fucking kidnapped and bound and held at gunpoint ! But it was what Klaus had trained all his life to do ! It wasn't something special ! He was just doing his job, for once !

He was angry and betrayed and he'd give anything to take his revenge. But those seven bastards were always sticking together, and even though he wanted nothing more but to beat them down, he wasn't stupid. He knew he was no match for them. Fucking fuckers, the lot of them.

So, really, when he saw Klaus throught the toilets' wide open door, splashing his face with water and sighing in relief as if he was having a bad day or something ? And he was alone for once ? Well, wasn't it kind of like fate ? Or something ?

It kind of was right ? Klaus stepped out of the toilets, so he pushed him back in. He saw him stumble on his ass before he closed the door. Held it shut with a well-placed chair he found just outside the toilets.

“Wait,” Klaus' muffled voice said through the door. He turned off the lights. “No.”

It wasn't anything too grave, just a harmless prank. He'd remove the chair in an hour or whatever, if noone found him in the meantime.

Nothing too serious, right ?

“Wait ! No, please ! Let me out ! Let me out, I'll be good ! Please, Sir, I'll- I'll be- !” The banging on the door and the chocked screaming froze him in place. What ? “Please ! I swear ! I'm not scared- not scared anymore-” Why was he crying, it was just- Just a harmles prank, right ?

 

He bolted.

 

 

That old pervert was a bit too much for klaus right now. He'd needed to get out of there, was still reeling from his encounter with that weird teacher (John ?). It was as if talking about PedoPete to his siblings the day before had summoned him or something. He knew his powers didn't really work that way. But sometimes it sure felt like it.

 

They'd come face to face with that asshole teacher (definitely John) on their way to physics. Klaus was glad he wasn't one of their teachers, glad he didn't _have_ to see him if he avoided him well enough. So bumping into him was infortunate really. He looked at him with those eyes, thoses eyes he could never forget even if he tried.

“He looks at me the same way PedoPete did,” He said so bluntly he surprised himself.

“I beg your pardon ?” John's voice made Klaus shiver, but he didn't show it to that guy. “Pedo- What are you implying ?”

“I'm not implying anything, I'm just saying you've got PedoPete's eyes,” he shrugged, and then he left, hoping his siblings would follow. He couldn't stay near that guy. He already felt bile in his throat.

“Who's Pe- Pe- PedoPete, Klaus ?” Diego asked him with the same tone psychiatrists used at rehab. He shrugged, didn't want to say more about him specifically. But his brother wouldn't let it go so easily.

“Did you think only good people died ? Why do you think I was desperate to grow pubes enough to lick nine volt batteries ?”

“But- but- but- but we were eight.”

“Yeah, that's showbiz, baby,” he shrugged again, then walked faster. That was enough talking in his opinion.

 

So yeah, when that old pervert ghost started going at it, he couldn't exactly just let it slide off of him or ignore it like he usually did. He splashed his face with fresh water, took a second to sigh in his hands : There were two ghosts wailing in there, but at least they weren't wanking. He just needed to prepare mentally to go back to class now.

A kid stared at him from outside the toilets. Oh, had he been waiting to use them ? Klaus sure hoped he didn't take too long in there, but he tended to lose track of time these days. He was about to apologize to the kid, but as soon as he stepped out, the boy pushed him back with quiete a bit of strenght. He barely had time to look up and catch the grin on the boy's face as he shut the door with a loud bang.

It took him a second to react. Blink away the surprise.

“Wait,” he whispered, a trembling hand reaching for the handle. It didn't move. “No.” He realised the light was out. His throat was closing up fast. He applied his whole strenght on the handle, rattling it gently at first ; Maybe it just needed a bit of persuasion, like his bedroom's door at the academy. There was a reason he never closed the door. But it. Did. Not. Budge. “Wait !”

 


	73. The saving's the easy part.

Father tripped him from the top of the stone stairs, making him fall on his ass, instead of pushing him in like he usually did. Father'd been in a particularly bad mood that day, and Klaus' screaming apparently had the better of him that night.

He barely had time to look up and catch the glint in Father's cold dead eyes as he shut the heavy doors with an ominous boom.

It took him a second to react. Blink away the pain shooting up from his coccyx.

“Wait,” he whispered, a trembling hand reaching for the cold stone surface of the mausoleum's door. It didn't move. “No.” His eyes were still searching for light. There wasn't any, not even the moonlight filtered in there. His throat was closing up fast. He refused to beg this time. Refused to grovel and cry, scream his throat out. He refused to give Father that satisfaction, refused to beg... “Wait ! No, please ! Let me out ! Let me out, I'll be good ! Please, Sir, I'll- I'll be- !”

He banged and scratched and pushed and threw himself against the door. “Please ! I swear ! I'm not scared- not scared anymore-” Tears and snot and blood dripped down his face, his heart seemed to have stopped a while ago, in it's place a heavy lump of deadweight making it impossible to breath.

And then the ghosts joined in, the ones from his past, the ones from his memories, the ones roaming the school. He closed his eyes and slumped on the floor. PedoPete's face flashed before him.

He might have screamed. Or not. The fear, heavy in his throat a second ago, lifted. Along with his consciousness.

 

 

“Five's with him !” Okay, no need to panic. Klaus wasn't getting anywhere. William walked awfully slowly.

Get a move on ! He couldn't trust himself to say it outloud without scaring the boy for life ; Jamin wasn't far away.

Get a fucking move on already.

There were ghosts everywhere, roaming around the corridors, looking for Klaus, screaming and wailing. The teachers were evacuating the children in a panic, trying to get Ben and William to do the same. They bluntly refused, and maybe they'd apologize later.

“We heard him screaming from in here !” William pointed at the west bathroom. “There !”

Klaus was there alright. Bundled in a corner, wedged between the sink and the toilet, mass of shivering, muttering mess. Blood trailed down the side of his face, painted the collar of his shirt and the tip of his fingers. Five paced around him, anxiously and unconsciously pulling at his hair.

“I- I just touched his shoulder. He screamed and then- Then he got like that. Why's he like that ?”

“Calm down, Five,” Ben ordered calmly. “If you can't, please leave.” Five scowled, but he indulged. It was just as well that he left, because the dozen ghosts haunting him were not the friendly type. They calmed down ever so slightly when their murderer left.

Now Ben could focus solely on Klaus. He hadn't moved an inch.

“Buddy ?” No reaction. “Buddy, you hear me ?” Nope. “We're at school, in the bathroom. You're crouching beside the sink. You're safe. Can you hear me ?” Ben kept talking, kept asking, kept his voice low and his movements slow. Jamin was restlessly growling and figuratively pacing anxiously around in their head.

When at last Klaus started answering, Ben sighed.

“Can I touch you ? Hold your shoulder ?” Klaus nodded, teary-eyed, and fell in his arms. “You're safe, my man.” The blue hue dissipated slowly and soon all that could be heard was Klaus' sniffing and crying. “We'll be okay. D'you think you can get up ?” He felt him try. And fail. “It's alright, let's take our time.” He shook and shivered, siffled and hicupped. Ben shushed him, Jamin rocked him. A figure obscured the room, making Klaus look up with renewed fear.

“I'm- I'm not scared anymore, Sir,” his voice trembled. Jamin held him tighter. “Can I go now ?”

“Mr Ward,” Ben said softly. The vice director didn't say anything. Looked down at the two of them, looked about to kill someone. Preferably not them, that would be good. Before speaking, he took a long breath.

“Can I do something ?” Benjamin weighed their options. Signaled him to wait with a raised finger, and turned back to Klaus.

“Wanna try getting up again ? Do you want Mr Ward to help ?”

“Nooo-” He moaned, burying his face in their chest.

“Okay, don't worry, there's no rush.” They looked back at Mr Ward, no explanations needed. He cocked his head to the side.

Jamin kept rocking Klaus gently ; It gave Them something to do other than wail in their head. So when their siblings finally arrived, Klaus had fallen asleep.

“What happened ?” Luther demanded forcefully, the stress making him forget all his good resolutions. Benjamin shushed him forcefully.

“We don't know. And keep your voice down.” Luther blushed, and apologized.

“There was a chair,” Five said, seemingly a bit calmer. “Keeping the door shut. And the lights were off. Someone did that. They're gonna die.” Maybe not that calm then.

“Five, I'm pretty sure a kid did that. You can't kill a kid.” Five didn't look convinced. “Can you get us to our room ?” Ben sighed.

 

Klaus slept for the rest of the afternoon. He tossed and turned and whimpered, but didn't wake up. Five stayed with them while the rest of the siblings investigated. Couldn't risk him finding the culprit on his own. He paced around, cursing a lack of alcohol and mumbling  under his breath. Ben heard Dolores' name a few times, so he didn't try to listen to the rambling. He kept watch though, tried to read a book, but couldn't really focus on the pages.

 

The kid came forward.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hell, I have no idea how this is gonna go. Badly would be my guess.


	74. Lucky to be just a kid

Vanya entered the room first. Five froze mid-pacing.

“Five,” she said, “why don't you sit down ?”

“I don't think I will.” They stared at each other. Five was visibly shaking, his fists envelloped in blue light. Vanya's eyebrows steadily rose on her forehead.

“Five,” she finally sighed, “sit down.” Another staring contest later, and Five finally, begrudgingly, indulged. Vanya looked at Them questionningly. They were practically vibrating from Jamin's anticipation, but They nodded to their sister. She reached behind her and outside of the room. A boy entered, his eyes trained on the floor, his hands locked behind his back. Mr Ward held him by the shoulders. Jamin was about ready to burst out screaming from the tension. Ben took a long breath.

“Why ?” They asked, swallowing down their anger and resentment.

He was just a kid, they reminded themselves. The kid looked up with anger in his eyes. Shame too, but mostly anger. What the fuck was he angry about ? Mr Ward had to nudge him forth before he shrugged and mumbled something under his breath.

“What ?” Mr Ward pressed.

“A prank... It was just a prank.”

A long pause ensued.

He was just a kid.

He took a step back when Jamin made his way to the surface. Tentacles wriggled down to the floor, fanned out and writhed like angry snakes. Ben gripped the armrests of his chair trying to keep Jamin in check.

Just a kid.

“I !” He finally blurted out, tone fearful. “I was going to open the door right away, I swear ! But he started screaming and banging on the door, so I got scared he'd hurt me !” He was crying by the end of his tirade.

“Oh, you were scared ?” Benjamin growled more than they spoke. “D'you know what nyctophobia is ? D'you know what claustrophobia is ?” The kid looked at them defiantly for a full second, before dropping his eyes back to the ground. He nodded weakly.

“Fear of the dark and fear of small spaces...” They growled harder. Their tentacles writhed more threateningly.

Just a kid.

“Our father used to lock him up in a mausoleum. D'you know what a mausoleum is ?” The boy shook his head, gritted his teeth. “It's a tomb. A tiny room were they store dozens of coffins. So our Father locked him in there for hours, if Klaus was lucky. Days when he wasn't. D'you know what that does to the mind ?”

“I get, alright ? I'm sorry !” The boy snapped. A tentacle whipped the air, making everyone flinch back and the boy yelp.

“We do not think you do,” They threatened. A tear ran down the boy's cheek.

“Benjamin, maybe that's enough,” Allison intervened.

“It isn't,” They replied. “It's not nearly enough. We want to terrify the brat like he terrified Klaus. Make him lose his mind and piss his pants. Make him bash his head on the walls to keep the fear at bay. Maybe then it'll be enough.” They stared at Allison, but they could see the boy squirm right next to her. “And you know the worst part ? He wasn't not alone in there-”

“Yeah, the ghosts,” the boy hiccuped pathetically. “I've seen them, I get it. I'm sorry !”

“You. Fucking. Don't. You think because you've seen what ? Ten ghosts, you get it ? They tore him apart in there ! They tortured him and they killed him, and they rap- "

“Benjamin !” Klaus. They turned to their brother sitting on his bed. He held the bandaged side of his head soflty, like it'd burst open if he wasn't careful. “It's just a kid,” he said, looking pointedly at them. “Let's call it a day, yeah ?”

“I'm sorry,” the boy sniffled, his eyes still trained on the ground. Klaus turned to him with a tired sigh.

“Whatever, no hard feelings, water under the bridge, don't do it again, et caetera...” He waved his hand in the air, before turning around and slumping back on his bed. “Now if you could take this somewhere else, I've got this massive headache I have to tend to. That'll be dandy.”

They wanted to say something. Get angry, shout, break something. Or someone. They seethed while Allison guided the kid out of the room. Mr Ward lingered a bit, clearly wanting to say something. His lip quivered exactly once before he left as well.

Five, still sitting on his bed, was more reminiscing of a statue than a real boy. He stared at the wall with the clear intent to melt it with anger alone. The door closed on Luther, and the three of them were once again left alone.

“Five,” They said when their brother twitched back into the land of the moving. “Stay there for a while ?” The assassin in front of them scolwed, then stared, then closed his eyes with a sigh.

“Yeah, yeah...”

“Benjovi, could you...” The faintest of requests, the smallest of voices. “Could you-”

“We're coming,” They answered. They climbed the ladder with trembling hands, crashed on top of the covers and snuggled next to Klaus.

 

 

 

“I don't want my kids to be exposed to these... Sorts of things anymore,” miss Mannings hissed. "What are you going to do about it ?” She asked the principal. Miss Rees glowered at the teacher who had two kids in class 3b. She got it. No parent would wish their kids to see perverts in actions right in front of them. Pervert ghosts, no less.

“We're working on it, Margaret. But these things take time, and it's not like-”

“No, it's simple, you get rid of the source, you get rid of the problem.” A hot wave surged and made miss Rees tremble in rage.

“Are you suggesting we throw the kid out in the streets or something ?” The teacher flinched back and cleared her throat.

“No- No, of course not, but- But other parents are going to complain. It has to cease.”

  
  


 


	75. Stick to it or fade away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> phew, this one's kinda dialogue heavy, but there was no way around it I'm afraid :/

“What the fuck, Margaret ?” Mr Ward asked as he crossed the threshold. A second of shock, and then Miss Mannings gasped in all her theatrical glory.

“Excuse me ?” Mr Ward took a step forward, Miss Mannings a step back.

“Are you hearing yourself right now ?” He growled. “Do you have any idea what happened anyway ?”

“Yes, mr Bleeding Heart, what happened is that my children were traumatized by a ghost masturbating right in their classroom !”

“Olivia, hold me back, or so help me, I'm gonna beat her up.” The principal made no move to stop him. Maybe he should do it after all.

“Mike, calm down...” She just said, not looking particularly concerned. Mis Mannings, on the other hand, seemed ready to run away.

“Do you think Klaus is having a fun time ? Do you wanna know what I just learned from his brother ? Or are you too self-centered to care ?”

“Mike...” The principal said.

“No, no ! I'm gonna tell you-”

 

 

Benjamin had decided. Klaus would never be left alone anymore. Couldn't risk it, too many variables.

“Ben, don't be so dramatic,” Klaus rolled his eyes. They all sat at the breakfast table, where Ben currently made sure Klaus ate his orange. He hadn't eaten anything the day before, and although he was (saddeningly) used to it, Ben could actually force his hand now.

“I'm not being dramatic, the world's a terrible place, so I'm not leaving your side anymore.” Klaus rolled his eyes again, and peeled another square inch of orange skin. “You might be done with your peeling by the end of the year, if you keep up your pace.” He was so painfully slow, he might be doing it on purpose. He stuck out his tongue, and slowed down even more.

They ate in silence for a while, Five slowly waking up behind his coffee mug, Diego scarfing down his cereal like his life depended on it. Luther and Vanya talked softly at the end of the table, and Allison seemed lost in her thoughts.

“Will we ever go back to our lives ?” She asked a bit out of the blue, startling Five awake. He considered her for a second, and she elaborated. “If you find a way back, will our lives in the futur be different ?” Her eyes filled with unshed tears. “Will I ever see Claire again ?”

“I know how to get us back,” he dropped with zero intonation. The rest of them said nothing, simply stared at their brother in anticipation. “But the only end result of my formula is the one where 'we' disappear.” He took a sip of his coffee, exhaling away the steam from his drink.

“You're gonna elaborate ?” Klaus asked, finally eating a slice of his orange. Five looked up to Klaus, a strange expression on his face.

“If your thirty years old selves go back to the futur, your younger selves will not only be left completely lost here, and that's another thing to consider, but they won't have lived the same way you did, so... You'll be gone. You'll be different people, different memories. Less trauma maybe. No special training, no PTSD, no drug addiction.”

“I could live with that,” Klaus snorted.

“You'll also forget all about Claire, Eudora, Dave...” Five had turned toward each of his concerned siblings, ended up staring sadly at a deflating Klaus. “Even the history you've shared with Ben over the past fifteen years.”

“You mean I'd get to be a functionning human being, and all it'd cost is everything. Well, I really have the worst luck. Count me out,” Klaus chimed, popping another orange slice.

“So, either 'we' disappear, or we stay here and take the long road back,” Diego resumed. “Wait, you keep saying 'you' as if you're not including yourself.”

“Well, yes, I don't have a futur body to jump myself into. I can't take the short route, and I'm not sure I'd want to. I have to keep an eye on Vanya and her powers. I can't jump Ben either, by the way.”

 

They were interrupted by a procession of adults coming their way. Lead by Mr Ward, there were Miss Mannings the english teacher, and the three school's therapists.

“Aw, hell no,” Klaus immediately complained when he saw them.

“Klaus...” Mr Ward and Ben sighed at the same time.

“Goddess, there's two of them.”

“Klaus, we didn't want to push you, but you clearly need to talk to someone,” Mr Ward said, imperceptibly straightening up.

“I'm not the one locking people up in toilets,” he retaliated. One of the therapists frowned and took a step forward.

“Therapy isn't a punishment, mr Hargreeves. It's a matter of helping you through your trauma by-”

“Yeah, yeah, by sorting it out and helping my brain process it, I know, I know. But you can't help this kind of fucked,” he grinned, pointing two thumbs up at himself.

“How about you let us try before giving up ?”

“You don't have all the facts,” Klaus shook his head, sighing theatrically.

Right. Therapy had never worked for Klaus because either the doctors didn't believe in the ghosts, or they didn't know what to do about them. And although those doctors had no choice but to believe in the ghosts, they didn't know about their true age. They couldn't help if Klaus had to ommit half of his life.

“Which are ?”

“Wouldn't you like to know, weather-boy,” Klaus chimed.

“I think if we're staying, we should tell them, Klaus,” Ben said before he turned to Five. “They could help.” Five narrowed his eyes.

“Are you suggesting we disclose _everything_ ?”

“Why not,” Ben shrugged, “Lupo took it well.”

“Only because Diego could prove all our claims.”

“I still think we should do this. And I trust Mr Ward.”

 


	76. So what are you suggesting ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, everyone. I'm putting this chapter up right before having to leave for work, un-beta read and kind of in a flurry. But if I'm not doing it now, I'm never doing it, so it's a bit shorter and probably less good than the previous, but you catch my drift right ? Anyway, and I won't apologise for the delay, because as everyone knows, sometimes it be like that, right ? I'm gonna do my best to finish this story before I completely lose the ability to focus on it (that's the trouble, really).
> 
> So, yeah, hope you enjoy, and with some luck, the rest will come soon :)
> 
> edit : I've edited it !

 

“Tell us what ?” Five ignored Mr Ward completely.

“If we're doing this, we need Lupo.”

“No, but for real, what do you have to tell us ?”

“Not here. Somewhere private,” Five answered.

“Wait, wait, wait, we don't need to tell'em shit, I don't need therapy !” Klaus complained.

“Klaus,” Ben said.

“I won't do it, because I don't need it, so quit it !”

“We do,” They countered, eyes trained on Klaus. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and finally answered.

“Fine, suit yourself, Benjy. But it won't change my mind.” Sure it will, but They weren't about to tell him that.

“Maybe we could talk about it between us before deciding-”

“No, Luther,” Klaus answered dramatically. “Our opinions don't count anymore in this family, I'm afraid.” He draped a hand on his forehead, fainting like an old-timey actress onto Ben's shoulder.

“Stop it, you drama queen,” he told him.

“I will not be silenced,” he huffed.

“Why don't you want to do it ?” Diego asked Luther, trying hard to keep the anger out of his voice.

Luther crossed his arms and furrowed his brows at the question.

“I'm not against it, I'm just saying we should think it through-”

“Listen,” Ben said, “I'm all for caution and thinking ahead. But we need help. And I'm not talking about just Klaus and me.” He looked around to his siblings, each turning their gaze away from him. “We all need it.”

“I don't !” Klaus countered.

“Shut up, this is serious, Klaus. You do and you know it better than anyone. My point is,” he continued once Klaus was pouting but listening, “We can't get help if we don't tell them.”

Everyone went silent for a while, pondering Ben's words. The adults looked at them with raised eyebrows and shared a look™.

“Fair enough,” Five was the first to cut the silence.

“Five ?” Klaus squealed. “Traitor !”

“I don't know if I want to stay.” Everyone turned to Luther.

“What,” Ben said. “Tell me you're saying this for the sake of argument.” Luther looked down, shrugged weakly.

“No,” he finally repeated, looking Ben in the eyes this time. “I think I might want to go back.”

“Luther...” Allison reached for his arm, but he stepped away. 'Did you hear what Five said ? If you go back, you'll-”

“Yes, I heard him. Maybe... Maybe it'll be good for me. I don't- I don't have anything to lose, like you...”

Well. What to say to that, really ? There was an awkward pause.

“Okay, but...” Ben picked up. “It doesn't change the fact we have to tell them. Actually, you'll need their support.”

“What d'you mean ?” Luther furrowed his brows.

“They won't know what's happening to you.” Number One turned to mr Ward and the therapists, seemingly considering Ben's words. Then he cocked his head to the side.

“I... Guess...” Ben looked around to the others, waiting for their approval. Klaus looked at his feet in defeat, Vanya shrugged, Diego nodded and Allison, brow furrowed in concern, sighed reluctantly.

 

Five had jumped as soon as the matter was settled, and Ben gestured mr Ward to lead them to his office. The door opened on a disgruntled Lupo and an impassive Five.

“Let's do this,” he declared, inviting the adults to sit down like he owned the place.

“Y'know Five, I'd have thought you'd be the last one to accept this crazy idea,” Klaus said, strolling past him and sitting cross-legged on the desk.

“The commission hasn't made one move despite us fucking up the whole timeline. At this point I'm actually kind of curious where this is going, to be honest.”

With everyone sat down, and ready to begin, one of the doctors was the first to break the silence.

“So... Where do you want to start ?” Do you want to talk about this commission ?”

“Mmh ? No, it's unimportant to you, and it'll just mess with your brain,” Five scoffed.

“We come from the future.” It was Vanya who opened the festivities.

“We're thirty years old adults, and we projected our consciousness here into the past to escape and prevent the apocalypse,” Allison resumed bluntly. There, it was out of the way now.

The silence grew louder and louder, shoulders tensed and dropped, jaws clenched, brains ground wildly to try and wrap around the idea...”

“What ?”

 

 


End file.
